Update On Baby Chili Pepper - 40 Weeks And 3 Days

Another Monday is here and still no Chili Pepper!!! Her Guess-Date was this past Friday, November 2nd and we had a couple of instances where we thought that she was going to "make her move", but apparently she still is too shy to greet everyone.

At today's doctor's appointment, my weight was good, lost a pound since last week, and my blood pressure is still were is should be. Her heart beat is as strong as ever and she is still in the head down position, getting ready to make her grand entrance. All is good news!

The one area of contention is that today's doctor wants to schedule me for inducement of labor. The preference would be for me to go into the hospital this week, with next week being the latest that I am allowed to wait. We talked about natural methods of starting labor, as well as the possibility of only using the minimal amount of pitocin to get labor started and then have it stopped so that my body can naturally take over. I kept stressing how much I want all of this to happen naturally, but that if there is a medical necessity, that I would not oppose any intervention.

Today's exam revealed that I am at 2 1/2 to 3 cm open. That is a change from last week of at least 1/2 cm. I also spent some time on the fetal monitor. Chili Pepper's movements were tracked as well as any surges that I was having. During the 30+ minutes that I was monitored, her heart rate was good, as were her movements. I even experienced some pretty good surges that were placed within 10 minutes of each other...including one that registered really high on the monitor. Overall, did not feel anything more than pressure and slight discomfort.

The monitoring proved a point to me that I had been wondering about. Due to my near continuous state of relaxation, could I be experiencing surges without realizing it? Guess the answer is yes. HypnoBirthing is already working for me. Now I just need to hold the induction off until I naturally attain the level of labor that is necessary for Chili Pepper to make her move! I also have another appointment scheduled for next Monday at 10:30. Hopefully we have to cancel that one.

Will keep you all posted. Say some prayers that more starts happening later today or tomorrow...especially since tomorrow is Papa Ron's birthday!

Have a great day!

Love to you all,

Kara & Miss Chili Pepper