I warned you guys in my last post that I would be writing about my labor and delivery experience this week, and guess what- I'm starting now! So, if you aren't ready to hear the details, stop reading. Although this post won't be that bad :)
I had Jennie on a Friday, but I have to start with a review of my last check-up, which was on the Tuesday before. Throughout my pregnancy, my doctor had been worried about the size of my baby girl because I wasn't showing. I very well could have been one of those girls on "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" if you hadn't known me before I was expecting. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE commented on my small size but what did they expect? I was 118lbs when I conceived. I had to do 2 more ultrasounds than what is considered "normal" just to check on Jennie's growth and both times they came back saying she was ahead of the growth charts (oh and fair warning, ultrasounds lie). Still my doctor was worried about her growth, and at my last checkup before I delivered, she told me that with her patients who are carrying smaller than average babies, she likes to deliver them earlier than 40 weeks so the baby can "thrive" outside of the womb. So at a regular checkup, she asks me if it's ok to scrape my membrane.
Here is the definition of membrane scraping or stripping from www.whattoexpect.com:
Membrane stripping. Your practitioner will use his or her finger to manually separate the amniotic sac from the lower part of the uterus to cause natural prostaglandins to be released (just as they would be released if labor began naturally).
Luckily, I read the What To Expect book religiously while pregnant and knew what she was talking about. And I freaked out- I was at 38 weeks, thought I had 2 more weeks to prepare for Jennie's arrival (and now I laugh at trying to "prepare"...ha ha ha) and my doctor wanted to start the labor process at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon? Hell no! Seriously, my exact words to her were that...and after we both laughed, I asked if we could do it at my next appointment so I can have time to prepare myself (again, preparing...I was so dumb then!). Plus Jake hadn't been able to make it to that appointment, and I didn't want to be making any serious decisions like that without him there. My doctor said that was fine so we scheduled my possible induction for the next Thursday. Before I left, she went over all of the labor signs and symptoms with me again in case anything happened before then.
Shaking, I get into my car and call Jake and tell him that we are going to have a baby sometime next weekend. Pretty sure all he said was "cool" because he didn't understand what membrane stripping was, and didn't want to know the details (I didn't even want to know either). After Jake, I called my mom and then texted a few of my friends to let them know the news- their newest "niece" would be here next weekend.
Little did we know...
I had Jennie on a Friday, but I have to start with a review of my last check-up, which was on the Tuesday before. Throughout my pregnancy, my doctor had been worried about the size of my baby girl because I wasn't showing. I very well could have been one of those girls on "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" if you hadn't known me before I was expecting. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE commented on my small size but what did they expect? I was 118lbs when I conceived. I had to do 2 more ultrasounds than what is considered "normal" just to check on Jennie's growth and both times they came back saying she was ahead of the growth charts (oh and fair warning, ultrasounds lie). Still my doctor was worried about her growth, and at my last checkup before I delivered, she told me that with her patients who are carrying smaller than average babies, she likes to deliver them earlier than 40 weeks so the baby can "thrive" outside of the womb. So at a regular checkup, she asks me if it's ok to scrape my membrane.
Here is the definition of membrane scraping or stripping from www.whattoexpect.com:
Membrane stripping. Your practitioner will use his or her finger to manually separate the amniotic sac from the lower part of the uterus to cause natural prostaglandins to be released (just as they would be released if labor began naturally).
Luckily, I read the What To Expect book religiously while pregnant and knew what she was talking about. And I freaked out- I was at 38 weeks, thought I had 2 more weeks to prepare for Jennie's arrival (and now I laugh at trying to "prepare"...ha ha ha) and my doctor wanted to start the labor process at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon? Hell no! Seriously, my exact words to her were that...and after we both laughed, I asked if we could do it at my next appointment so I can have time to prepare myself (again, preparing...I was so dumb then!). Plus Jake hadn't been able to make it to that appointment, and I didn't want to be making any serious decisions like that without him there. My doctor said that was fine so we scheduled my possible induction for the next Thursday. Before I left, she went over all of the labor signs and symptoms with me again in case anything happened before then.
Shaking, I get into my car and call Jake and tell him that we are going to have a baby sometime next weekend. Pretty sure all he said was "cool" because he didn't understand what membrane stripping was, and didn't want to know the details (I didn't even want to know either). After Jake, I called my mom and then texted a few of my friends to let them know the news- their newest "niece" would be here next weekend.
Little did we know...
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