Baby Coming Soon?!?

I just got home from my prenatal appointment. I was very crampy this morning, and felt almost the same as I did on Friday night. So maybe that was something, and it just petered out without turning into real labor? Or maybe today will do the same thing? Who knows. But anyway, this morning I felt very crampy and just kind of "weird" and not good. I do have a cold/sinus thing happening now, of course - perfect timing! Not.

So my midwife checked me, and she said my cervix isn't posterior anymore (it was last Monday), but more midline. She first said I was about 60% effaced, but then said that was kind of conservative, and that it could be closer to about 80%. She used the word "squishy", which I found sort of funny, meaning my cervix is pretty soft. I was 2 cm dilated, but then she did a little mini memb.rane sweep, and said that "after all that stretching" I was then 3 cm. The most amazing thing, though - she could feel the baby's head! She said it was at -1! She could feel part of the font.anel (soft spot), and was trying to determine which way the baby was facing, but she couldn't feel enough to figure that out. She made me bleed, which she said was good (in terms of getting things going labor-wise, I guess). She also estimated/guessed the baby's weight at 8.2 after feeling around on my belly.

As an aside... Before she swept my memb.ranes, I mentioned something about having heard that it hurts. She said not necessarily, that some women are more "aware of their cervices" than others. She also said she didn't have to do a big huge formal sweep, but just a little bit, so I agreed. And to be honest? It really didn't hurt. It wasn't any different than a pelvic exam, really, except maybe it took a little longer because she was figuring out several different things - effacement, dilation, position of the baby, and then whatever memb.rane-sweeping/stretching of the cervix she did.

In the end, her guess was that I'll have the baby tomorrow. Right on my due date! But we'll see what happens, as that's obviously not guaranteed. I'd be ok to wait until Friday night, since she'll be on call at the hospital then, and I really like her (she's my primary midwife). She had me make an appointment for next Tuesday at the anten.atal testing unit for a bioph.ysical profile and a non-st.ress test, which they start to do if you go past your due date. She doesn't think I'll get that far, but said that making the appointment is a good way to ensure that I'm not still pregnant by then. :)

And now I'm going to go watch "The Busin.ess of Being Born", which my sister netf.lixed for me... Is that a completely crazy thing to do right now, or what?!