Thursday

I have officially been scheduled to begin induction preparation on Thursday. Paperwork is signed and ready to go. I am keeping my prenatal appointment earlier that day that includes another ultrasound. Later that evening I will be admitted and they will start preparing my body for induction (ie: methods to ripen the cervix overnight). I will be spending the night there (Kyle too) and then they will start the Pitocin on Friday morning after a light breakfast. And then we just see how my body responds to the Pitocin! Maribeth said it could take the whole weekend or it could get everything going right away. It all depends on how my body responds and how well I can learn to relax and let my body do its thing. If I haven't progressed much later on Friday, they will take me off of it, let me relax, eat and sleep, then start it up again Saturday.

I was checked today to see what my cervix looked like and it has progressed since last week. That's a good sign, so hopefully everything will continue to work like that. There will be a lot involved with this birth. I may even need to be put on something if my blood pressure is really high during labor. I have decided that even though I would love be able to follow my birth plan, there are going to be things I am just going to have to give up. This is not how I envisioned my first birth, but the ultimate goal is a healthy baby and healthy mama... not a picture perfect birth.

Let's just pray everything works well. I am very bummed that Maribeth isn't on call this weekend... but I have met the other midwives that are, so I'm sure it will be okay. I am just very comfortable with her and enjoy talking with her. But I know that I am in good hands and the other midwives will be great as well.

Now if I can just relax and get some good sleep this week. I am so anxious and know that it will be hard to sleep with so much on my mind! We are finally to the end of this, and I am going to finally start feeling better after weeks of close monitoring, tests and visits.

That's the scoop! It feels so good to really have a plan all set and an end in sight. Again, your prayers are so appreciated and make me feel comforted every day. Thank you from all three of us!