Down, Boy

35 weeks and 4 days.

Today we had a doctor's appointment with my primary obstetrician, Dr. Jenny Jo. It was a very important appointment because we needed to discuss the possibility of discontinuing medications, bed rest, and potential c-section scenarios. When she walked into the room, she exclaimed, "You're overdue!" I laughed at her joke but wanted to cry. The light is at the end of the tunnel, and I can see it so clearly now. After checking my cervix, Dr. Jo pointed out that the head was down. I was thrilled to hear this, but slightly surprised because in the past week I don't remember feeling the big turn. I had done this exercise a couple of times during the week that is supposed to encourage breech babies to turn down, but I was far from consistent in doing it. I basically got on all fours and stuck my butt as high in the air as I could get it. The buoyancy is supposed to encourage the baby to flip. I don't think I did it enough to make a difference. But sure enough, baby boy's head was down - a quick ultrasound proved it. There's no guarantee he'll stay there, but this late in the game, most babies assume the position and stay there. So Stefan and I breathed a collective sigh of relief and thanked God for one more answered prayer.

Next we talked about medications. The progesterone injection I received yesterday was, in fact, my last. We discussed my terbutaline pump, and I explained how the contractions and cramping have been increasing these past few days. It's obvious that the terbutaline's effectiveness is beginning to wean for the second time. The magnesium sulfate "wash" did its job and bought us another two weeks, but as we approach 36 weeks, the risks of continued terbutaline therapy begin to outweigh the benefits. So Dr. Jo said it was time to stop using the pump and let myself go. We agreed that I would turn the pump off this Saturday, when I hit 36 weeks. Dr. Jo said I could stop the pump today, but I was apprehensive about that because I feel in my heart of hearts that the moment I turn off that pump, labor will ensue very rapidly. It may not, but my goal is to get to 36 weeks, and I am so close. I know I can get there. If I can hold on just a couple more days with the pump, I won't be so scared about removing it. So this Saturday - 36 weeks - I will remove the pump and probably get really anxious about going into labor. But regardless of my fears and anxieties, I have to remember what this really means: it means that we are very close to reaching our goal of delivering a healthy baby boy as close to full term as possible. When I started getting progesterone injections at 16 weeks, this week seemed forever away. And now it's come and gone. Wow. I almost can't comprehend it.

As for bed rest, I am still on it until 37 weeks, or another week and a half. This means I will be on bed rest for Christmas... if I'm not in the hospital. Santa will need to get creative for sure! Ten more days on the sofa. I can do this. Now if I could just do something about the cramps, heartburn and constipation...