38w5d and counting.....

Counting down, that is!  9 days to go until due date on the 25 of September.  I have my weekly OB appointment this afternoon so we'll see if there's anything to get excited about.  I had my weekly NST/AFI monitoring appointment on Tuesday of this week and babygirl was doing great.  The MFM who saw me afterwards (this is routine - there are about 5 docs and one of them usually quickly reviews the NSF and AFI results afterwards with you) asked what the schedule was for my delivery.  I told him the due date again, but he seemed to think I should have an induction scheduled.  He said if it were up to him, he wouldn't let me go past my due date.  I asked whether this was based on anything he'd seen in the monitoring results and he said, no, just based on my age (41 yrs and 3 months now).

I told him my regular OB (head of the practice) said she wouldn't let me go more than 3 or 4 days past due date for same reason, but he seemed fairly adamant about not going past my due date.  So, I'll ask the OB I see today for her opinion.

I'm a bit of two minds about it.  On one hand, I think the MFM (kind of an odd duck; seems a little old school) underestimates the health of my 41 year old body (!) I mean, I'm still walking 3 miles every morning.  My blood pressure has been consistently low the entire pregnancy.  I've gained only about 21 pounds.  I have no gestational diabetes, etc.  On top of that, last time they measured babygirl she was 40th something percentile I think for size.  She's super-reactive to the NST and the amniotic fluid is perfect.

On the other hand, I don't want to push it.  We waited a long time for this baby.  And, it would be kind of nice to be able to call my parents at a reasonable time of day and say 'hey, I'm scheduled for an induction on x day' instead of calling them at 2 a.m. to tell them we're heading to the hospital.

On the other, other hand, I'd love to see babygirl come before an induction is necessary.  I guess I might end up with a c-section in either case but it does seem like an induction before she's ready my make that risk higher.  But, really, if it takes a c-section, that's the way it is.  I'm not at all going to be worked up about that.  I just want a healthy baby out of it all.

So, there we are.  I really feel like nothing has changed with my body in the last couple of weeks.  I feel no closer to having this baby come out.  I still can't tell if I can really identify even any Braxton Hicks contractions.  (I thought I might have the other night, but it turned out just to be gas.)

In the meantime, trying to tie up all the little loose ends:  getting the rest of my hospital bag(s) packed; off to the cloth diaper store today to buy a few things (my sister has given me all of her diapers); off to meet my friend who's given me her Bugaboo stroller to get the bassinet piece (which she had forgotten the other day) and finally, this afternoon, on to the OB who will undoubtedly do an internal exam this week and I'll at least get some news about whether I'm at all dilated or not.

Just for kicks, here's the (probably) last belly shot: