Baby's coming! Not today...but soon!

The reality that we will probably have the baby early is surreal. My due date is Jan. 28th and this whole pregnancy I had made up in my mind that the baby was going to be born in February. After all, most first time mom's go late rather than early. So when the possibility of having a premature baby came into reality two weeks ago, I was slightly very freaked out. Obviously about the health of the baby, but also because in my mind I still had a full+ month before the little girl was going to grace us with her presence and I wasn't ready. It was too soon!

We've made it two weeks since then, now we only have one more week and she'll be full-term! I will be able to breathe easier next Thursday. Even though I've progressed my midwife doesn't think I'll have a problem making it full-term, that gives me a great deal of comfort. Her prediction is week 38. So we'll see! For all we know maybe I still won't have a baby until February.

Thirteen days ago when we went to the hospital for our little scare I found out that the baby was 1/2 in. away from being engaged and my cervix was close to dilating, but nothing at that time. Five days later at my appointment I was about 1.5 cm dilated and nearly 25% effaced. We got the okay from my midwife and decided to travel to my parents for Christmas, which is two-hours away, we just knew I'd have to relax and take it easy. On Christmas Eve something felt different, I was having a lot of pressure and abdominal soreness/cramping, among some other symptoms. I was also getting a lot of braxton-hicks, nothing consistent though. On Christmas morning I made the mistake of doing a little reading online and totally freaked myself out. I read about all these things I was feeling and the results said it could be pre-term labor. I was very worried and couldn't relax, after all, I wasn't at home and the reality that my doctor was a couple hours away (not to mention the fact that we were experiencing the biggest snowstorm MN has seen in years,) was quite disturbing. But I knew I wasn't actually in labor and I had good enough reason to know that if you have signs of pre-term labor to drink a ton of water and lay down for awhile on my left side. After I relaxed and realized I wasn't going to have the baby that day things got a little better. I rationally tried to figure out the causes of my symptoms and to remember that several things were very quite normal to experience. I figured the baby must've dropped further, hence all the pressure and soreness. The only thing I could do was wait and take it easy.

I had an appointment with my midwife yesterday, anxious to see what my progress was, but scared too because of the ever-possibility of a preemie. I learned that I definitely progressed. The baby did drop and is past the engagement point. I am dilated 3cm and my cervix is 50% effaced. Crazy! To me that seems like a lot of progress in a short amount of time, but I also know that every woman is different and progresses differently. Some woman aren't dilated to 3cm until they're in active labor, some women are at 3cm for 3 weeks before they go into labor. Same goes for effacement. So obviously it all just depends. As I mentioned, my midwife thinks I won't have an issue making it full-term, she thinks this is just my body's way of preparing, so we will see what the progress is in a week. One week goes by fast, and after that the little angel can come anytime she pleases. It's all very exciting :) and even though the probability of her coming before the due date is likely, I don't want to get my hopes set on going early because if I do that'll just make the days miserable as I approach my due date. And the new discomfort added from the baby being so low, among all the other pregnancy discomforts is miserable enough. So, my spirits are good and now that I'm home and so close to the 37-week-mark, I feel very relaxed, excited and peaceful. It'll happen when it happens!