40+4... and more

Just wanted to write a quick update. It's almost midnight on Tuesday, June 27th. As of tomorrow, I'll be 5 days past my due date and we're still waiting for Baby!

Monday's Appointment
We had an appointment yesterday morning. I asked Mr. Merman to go with me in case they do anything exciting. He worked from home so that he could go, and I'm so glad he did!

The midwife checked my cervix, which was 1 cm. dilated. I was about 70% effaced. We had discussed stripping my membranes prior to her checking. She said that I could make the decision once we determined if I was dilated or not. (I didn't realize that meant that I had to decide while her fingers were up in there)! Imagine the awkwardness of me trying to make a decision while her hand is still in my hoo-haa with a finger in my cervix. After a moment she said, "Okay. Let's make a decision, this is starting to get weird." I wanted to die laughing!

I told Mr. Merman to grab my hand and told her, "Just do it!" It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It was slightly uncomfortable but I had a hand to squeeze. Afterwards, she told me that I may experience cramping and bleeding so I got a mini-pad to wear. Then she wanted us to have an ultrasound to see how things were growing and make sure baby was doing okay.

Merbaby's sweet smushed up face

We got to see out little baby's smushed up face again! He's measuring around 7 lbs. 9 oz. now and is doing great! Our midwife was called into labor and delivery during our ultrasound so we met with a different midwife to go over the results, which were all great! But she said that the baby is measuring a little behind, more like 38 weeks. If the due date was based on his measurements, it would be July 9th. However, the measurements are just an estimate and could be off so they don't base any decisions moving forward on these calculations. (THANK GOODNESS)! I keep reminding them that we did IVF so we know the exact day of conception, which means there is no doubt about how far along I am at this point. They always nod their heads in agreement and assure me that they are aware of this.

The next step: Just keep waiting. If he's not here by Friday, we have a non-stress test scheduled that morning. Assuming everything looks good, we will continue to wait but will schedule an induction for the following week as they must be scheduled a week in advance. I'd really like to go into labor on my own so let's hope he starts pushing his way out.

Oh! I almost forgot! He's still sunny side-up but has turned slightly to my right. I like to think that the Baby Spinning has helped with that. We still haven't tried the Rebozo but will definitely be doing that soon.

After the appointment, we grabbed some lunch and headed home. I only had a little bit of cramping. It reminded me of the cramping I experienced after the HSG and other infertility procedures. I felt good enough to go to the gym with Mr. Merman last night. I walked on the treadmill for about an hour while he did his whole workout. And of course, the walking didn't cause any contractions whatsoever! :(

Today has been pretty uneventful, as well. I got my eyebrows waxed this morning then grabbed some Starbucks and perused my way around Target just to kill time and get out of the house. My stroll through Target resulted in buying a black nightie for delivery, Depends diapers for after delivery, and more massive pads for the weeks following.

Eggplant Parmesan
There's an Italian restaurant nearby that is known for helping women go into labor. All a woman has to do is eat the Eggplant Parmesan and she can expect to go into labor within 48 hours. They even have an "Eggplant Baby" wall with pictures of all the babies that were born within 48 hours of their mom eating this meal. Unfortunately, the meal isn't gluten free but the recipe is posted on their website. This means that I can make it at home and substitute my own ingredients to make it gluten-free! I purchased all the ingredients tonight and am going to make it for dinner tomorrow.

As I was checking out, the cashier saw all the eggplant and asked if I was past my due date cause she just knew that's why I was buying it. Then they all complimented me on "looking great" for being overdue and wished me luck! If he's not here by tomorrow... maybe this meal will do the trick!

Mucus Plug?
I may or may not be losing my mucus plug. I was told to expect bleeding after the membrane sweep but never had any. However, there was definitely something in my panties tonight that looked like it could be part of a mucus plug. I ran out of the bathroom to tell my husband, who got overly excited! He googled images to see if that's what was happening but none of them looked like what I had seen. However, I know that you can slowly lose it over a few days so for now, I'm assuming that's what's happening. I'm feeling a ton of pressure down there so maybe... just maybe... "M" is working his way out??


PS: I'm avoiding bathroom construction talk because I'm over it. But things are finally progressing in that area. Our project manager just quit! He no longer works for the company so we've got someone else taking over the job. He came out today to look at everything, which actually helped move things along. We were able to sit down and go through pricing and come up with a total of what we owe so far and an estimated cost for completion. Hallelujah! If this baby doesn't come soon, we may actually get this bathroom finished before he gets here. :)