Early Labor

My Mom is here! I went to pick her up on Wednesday.

On Friday, we went to see my Dr. expecting to get in and out of there like I always had. Only this time the Dr. was having a hard time locating the heartbeat of the baby. When she finally did it sounded slow in comparison to all the other times. She listened for a long time and then she said she wanted to send me over to the hospital to have the baby monitored. As far as effacement and dilation there really hadn't been any progress since last week. The Dr. said I might be having my baby that day as a low heartbeat was a sign of trouble. Mom and I headed over to the hospital. They put the monitors on and listened for a while they gave me some water. The babies heart rate was going up and down. After about 30 minutes the Dr. showed up and looked and the reading and said it was textbook, nothing was wrong and we could go home. It was scary. At that point I totally didn't feel ready. Afterward we went to get a bite to eat at a place the nurse recommended. Then we went shopping.

This morning when I got out of the shower I noticed that my belly was hanging lower. In the afternoon I started to feel contractions. There were mild at first like menstrual cramps. Now they are much stronger, strong enough to wake me up. They are lasting about 45 seconds and are occurring about every ten minutes. I have to say that laying down is the worst position to be in when you have a contraction. I feel better prepared now than I did on Friday amazing what a difference a couple of days can make.

16 days to go...

This morning right before I woke up I had a dream that Tom and I were on sinking ship, luckily we were very near shore and able to get off safely, I hope it's a good sign.

At my Dr's appointment today my Dr. told me my cervix is thinning out about 75% of the way and I am dilated 1 centimeter. I was totally surprised. I haven't felt any painful contractions, just the usual braxton-hicks. All the books say that you really aren't in labor until about 3 centimeters and that it is normal to dilate a bit, two to three weeks before the birth. Although my Dr. said it is unusual in a first time pregnancy. I hope it's two weeks since that would put me right on schedule for my due date. My Dr. did say that Tom and I should go out, she suggested dinner and movie and that I should get a massage from Tom too. She even offered to write a prescription for me. I wonder if she knows something we don't know. Perhaps we should pack our bags and commit to our birth plan in writing.

Last week I met a pediatrician I liked, but I am scheduled to meet with another one later.

We are trying to get the baby's room together. Tom's friend Dan painted it for us, he did a wonderful job, I have to think of a way to thank him. We still won't have the crib until next week or later but the baby will sleep in our room in a bassinet at first anyway.

Yesterday was last day of work and now I will work from home. My bosses surprised me with cake and ice cream.

We have chosedn Elean for one of the names, it could be the first name or the second name. Some other names we are considering:

Calissa

Emily

Faith

Kaitlyn

Keira

Lillian

Marilyn

Olivia

Obviously I only got through the O's

I am now taking suggestions for appropriate music to play during the birth.