38 week update and small scare

We had our 38 week appointment last Monday (10/25). Not too much has changed for me in the way of progress. I am still 1/25/-3 (meaning my cervix is just barely open and still pretty thick and that Cade is very high up). This little boy seems to be perfectly happy in his current home and in no hurry to make an appearance!

Prior to my doctor checking me she got the ultrasound out to listen to Cade's heartbeat. She had a little bit of a difficult time locating Cade's heartbeat this time and when we did find it is was down from his normal rate (called a deceleration). We kept listening to it and it came back up but then went down again. This was enough to cause quite a bit of concern in my room and my doctor sent me to L&D triage to be monitored. She told me that if there were any additional decelerations that she was going to deliver Cade right away and that she was guessing we would have a baby by the end of the day. Total PANIC now beginning!!!

Gregg and I left her office and headed back to Parkland to go to triage with our heads spinning! We have our bags packed and everything ready for Cade to get here but hearing that he could be coming that day was not at all what we were expecting and we were not ready!

We were admitted to L&D Triage around 2:30pm where I got to change into a lovely and stylish hospital gown and placed on fetal monitors.

My sweet husband took this picture (without my knowledge) while I was being admitted

While I was being monitored Cade's heartbeat was textbook perfect the entire time! It stayed between 140-150 bpm the entire time, had great variability and beautiful accelerations throughout the entire time. (I know most reading this won't understand what that means but it is exactly what you want from a baby's heart rate when monitoring it!) So, we were sent home around 6pm to keep waiting. I am guessing that the way I was sitting in the doctor's office somehow caused the umbilical cord to become temporarily compressed lowering his heart rate. This is something that is normal and often occurs during labor with contractions. The fetal heart rate tracing we saw while in the hospital showed that he recovered well from the decels and has plenty of reserves to handle the little dips that he had. By the time we were discharged both Gregg and I were a little disappointed to be leaving without a baby- we had come to terms with delivering and welcoming this little one to the great big world! BUT we were very happy to know that everything looked good with Cade and that he was healthy enough for us to be able to go home!

I have used a doppler monitor several times over the last week to check out our little one's heartbeat and everything has sounded great! (One of the perks of being a former L&D nurse and still having access to all the equipment!) I have also really been paying attention to his movements and doing kick counts.

Our next appointment is on Tuesday (11/2) afternoon. I have been having some contractions off and on these last few days and think that maybe Cade has dropped a little. (That could entirely be in my imagination though!) I am hoping that I have made some progress and that maybe my doctor will talk about inducing me by November 10 if I haven't gone into labor on my own!