Wednesday, June 17, 2009

A Bit of a Wash

So, today was our ultrasound and consult with Dr. Wilkins-Haug (no cervical check in the classic sense--we'll come to that later). The ultrasound was actually another biophysical profile, one that our beautiful, thriving baby boy passed with flying colors, an 8/8 to be exact. However, when it was all said and done, there was to be no cervical check via ultrasound wand. We were all a little curious about that, but figured we'd get the skinny from our doctor when we saw her in a couple of hours.

We were then met for a short visit by two lovely people, our doctor friend Chloe and our nurse friend Julia, both of whom were a ray of sunshine, hugs, and concern. After these brief commercial interruptions, we began the waiting game: waiting to go in, waiting to weigh in (178 lbs-WHOA!), waiting to see the doctor. This brought us up to an hour-plus playing the waiting game. At long last, Nurse Taylor Toomey, a wonderfully colorful character in the MFM practice, came in to tell us that yes, in fact, it was OK to not have our cervical check during our ultrasound because Dr. Wilkins-Haug (whom you might hear us refer to as Big Ouiser) was going to do it, manual-style.

Don't know if anyone reading this has had the pleasure, but believe me, it is nothing to play with.

Once that unpleasantry was over and done with, it was revealed that I'm dilated about 1 cm. This is part of the natural progression of things, but not news I wanted to hear. Up until this point, I've only been effaced and the gates to the birthing kingdom have been closed. But now that they're opening ever so slightly, I'm freaking out. My doctor then shared two seemingly conflicting pieces of information--you be the judge:

1. Because my uterus has been "a quiet place" for the past five weeks, she feels it's very likely that I can make it to full term (37 weeks).

2. However, babies with complications can go into preterm labor without warning, so you never can tell.

Hmm.

I'm calling this a wash and hoping that the shop stays closed until at least mid-July. Keep sending those positive vibes, friends and family!

4 comments:

  1. Yeah, manual cervical checks are routine once labor is underway. Don't know how many I had... but there were plenty and none of them were fun. =p

    Sounds like a wash to me too. Hang in there lady.

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  2. Yes, hang in there indeed. Positive vibes your way!!

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  3. Good times with the cervical check... thinking of you and sending well-wishes and cervix locks your way...

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  4. hi phoebe! i'm no nurse, but i'm glad you thought i was one! i'm just a lowly echo tech. but i do work in cardiac and i'd love to talk to you some more about rafa's heart.
    it was such a treat to see you four! thanks for letting me be a part of your journey.. i'm here anytime! love, julia

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