4/12 seems like a good birthday...

I was glad that after my spill this morning I had a good non-stress test.  In fact, that little guy was insanely active!!  Then Jeff met me at the doctor's for our scheduled appointment.  Dr. Leahy did the physical exam and said I was 2 cm dilated, 90% effaced and that his head was VERY low.  While she was down there she stripped the membranes which HURT!  I had a momentary freak out because I would love to do this birth thing all natural, but that was painful!  She said, though, that she wasn't being very gentle....so I can do this thing, right?  Anyways - she said we definitely need to think about a game plan and she suggested that we come back on Thursday for another visit.  She said if the stripped membranes are effective I'll start labor in 24 hours.  If not, then it's not going to work.  But then she realized that I hadn't had an ultrasound to check my amniotic fluid levels.  So upstairs we went to visit the ultrasound tech.  She discovered that my fluid levels were low - I guess they want to see more than 5 cm and I only have 3 cm.  So Dr. Leahy came back to see me and said that we need to have our baby!  Because my non-stress tests have been so great, she told us we could wait until tomorrow morning, but tomorrow morning for sure we need to head to the hospital to be induced.

Fingers crossed that the membrane stripping works and that I go into labor on my own tonight.  I really didn't want to be induced since I've heard that induced labors tend to be longer and harder.  If I'm not in labor tonight, we have to call the hospital at 6 am tomorrow.  I'm supposed to eat a good, protein rich breakfast, and then will likely have to report to the hospital at 8 am!

Oh yeah, and the ultrasound tech guessed the baby's weight at 8 lbs 15 oz.  AHHH!!  My response, "Holy crap, that's a big baby!"  She said that's only an estimate, but she figures he'll be in the 8 lb range.  So, that's scary, too.  I'm not a big woman!

So, after all this waiting, to know that tomorrow I'll be going into labor is just a crazy feeling.  I think tonight I'll be making Jeff practice some breathing techniques with me to get warmed up.  I hope that since the induction is early in the morning that we'll have the baby by the end of the evening (or before).  Fingers crossed!!!