A Light at the End of the Tunnel

Yesterday was my 38 week appointment. My blood pressure has gone down considerably since our Pre-Eclampsia scare, but my OBGYN is still worried that it's elevated.

She did an internal to check my progress and I've stalled. No more progress since the last exam. This is bad news because she doesn't want me to go as long as my due date because of my blood pressure. In fact, she said she won't let me go beyond my due date. That's exciting, but also scary, because that means if I don't go into labor on my own by then, we'll have to induce. Most first-time moms who are induced go on to have c-sections. And we don't want that.

Without giving me any warning, during the regular internal exam she did what she later called a massage on my cervix. She told me after the fact that she was trying to put pressure on my cervix and cause me to dilate manually. TALK ABOUT PAIN! She was hurting me so badly that I was tearing up and squeezing her little body between my knees. She only stopped when we both heard (and I felt) a pop! She'd put pressure on a ligament in my groin area and it had popped. (Later last night I could feel these ligaments on both legs sort of pop in and out as I walked.)

Once the exam was done she told me a few things I could do to speed things up. At first I didn't pay much attention to her advice- but when she said if I hadn't made enough progress by my appointment next Thursday, she'd do another, l-o-n-g-e-r cervix massage- I paid better attention. (In fact- she even said that she insisted I see her personally at my next appointment and not her partners because they wouldn't be as aggressive at the massage as she would! YIKES!)

So my advice for the week is to stay off my feet as much as possible and keep them elevated. To take walks when I was up to it, and to...have sex. My response to the last part was "Ow." Especially considering the pain my body had just endured. She had no sympathy for me and told me there were several benefits from having sex that could move us forward.

She warned me last night would be a rough night complete with bleeding. Well, at the risk of sounding like a wimp, and having all of you who've already delivered your own babies laugh at me, I've still go to say- last night was the most miserable night I've ever spent. I took Tylenol PM around 9 (yes, it's allowed) hoping to both dull the pain and help me sleep through the night. So much for that. My lower back and pelvis felt like they were on fire all night. I kept having two FRIENDS moments. Remember when Phoebe has a bad contraction at the hospital while delivering the triplets, then looks down and says she was hoping "That was it." That's exactly how I felt last night. I kept hoping her manual dilation had sent me into labor and the pain I was feeling was contractions. (It wasn't.)

Remember on a different episode when Phoebe dates a psychiatrist and the rest of the group can't stand him? Throughout the show, they all mutter, "I hate that guy!" Well, that was me. I must have told Terry 176 times how much I hate my OBGYN!

So, let's all join together and pray that this baby starts his decent on his own and doesn't have to be (literally) prodded along. JUST SAY NO TO CERVIX MASSAGE!