progress report.

I went to the doctor this morning, for a normal appointment. They checked my cervix, among other things, and here's what they found:

• it is very soft (soft=ready)
• it is 80% effaced, about .5 cm (down from 1.5 cm)
• it is dilated to 1.5 cm
• baby is at a -1 station
• baby is measuring 32 inches, and since I'm 34 weeks and 3 days, this is small. midwife said she'll probably be 6 or 7 lbs instead of 9 or 10 (good news for a natural-birth mama)
• GB Strep test from last time was positive, meaning an IV and antibiotics for me at delivery (sad day)

So, the midwife wasn't worried at all about my cervix being .5 cm! Four weeks ago that would have been very, very bad news, possibly requiring bed rest. But she said my body is just doing what it is supposed to do, getting ready to deliver. And she predicted that things should go pretty fast for me because my body is doing all the work now, instead of at delivery. I hope she is right. I sincerely hope I'm not in labor for three days. Or two. Hours would be nice. 

She said that at this point, they won't do anything to stop my labor, that the side effects of any drug would outweigh the benefits of stopping contractions (no more nefedipine, yeah!). I can stop taking progesterone in one week, and can do things that naturally induce labor in two weeks (things that I've been restricted from doing for the past while). I can also continue to work, which is a blessing. I am getting pretty tired, especially when I have to work a 15 hour day instead of a 10 hour day. My boss and I have talked about decreasing my hours to 30/week instead of 40 as I get closer to the end. The past few weeks I've been telling people that I don't think baby girl is coming any time soon, but after today's appointment, I'm not so sure about that. We'll just have to see! Maybe we'll have a Thanksgiving baby instead of a Christmas one.