2 cm & 80%

So I'm a bit behind in one category and a bit ahead in the other. (Considering with Olivia at 37 weeks, I was 3cm and 75%.) But congratulations to Ashley!! Tell me what you want and I'll cook it for you next time you come over. Oh, and I'm officially declaring a tie between Ashley and Jes, since Jes wanted to choose 2 cm, but Ashley beat her to it, so she went with 2.5, even though she knew they didn't measure in half centimeters. So you can both come on over - just tell me by the Monday before what you want so I can shop for it. :-)

But I'm excited. He almost didn't check my cervix because the nurse asked if I was having contractions or any other sign of labor and I said "no," like I always do. And when she told me he might not check me until next week then, I said, "Oh, but I was 3 cm dilated at this point in my last pregnancy. I didn't feel the contractions until they broke my water - and at that point I was around 7cm." Her eyes got a little bigger and she decided maybe the doctor should check me after all. Hehe.

But the reason I'm excited is because that means this pregnancy is turning out to be very similar to Olivia's (which, as mentioned above, was rather painless until the intervention). And since I've decided to do this labor with as few interventions as possible, maybe this one will be even more painless. The doctor told me to call if I did start having contractions and they were five minutes apart, but then he looked at me and said, "Or if your water breaks, which seems might be more likely." He said if that happens, to simply call on the way to the hospital. I told him I still had a few hours in between water-breakage and birth last time, but he told me they go quicker the second (and third, forth, so on) time.

So my hope and prayer? That since I'm letting my body (and God, of course) do things the way He intended, maybe my water won't break until I'm fully dilated and ready to push. And maybe I won't feel contractions until then either. And since this is my second baby, maybe the pushing stage will go much more quickly (read: less painfully) and I won't be as tempted to get the epidural.

Why don't I just get induced and get the epidural? Because induction is not a natural thing and could have dangerous side effects leading to emergency C-sections (also not a very natural thing and a major surgery). And induction leads to more painful and more intense contractions. During labor you are supposed to have at least 60 seconds in between contractions. Because of the pitocin, my contractions came three at a time with less than half a minute in between each set of three. And why do I not want an epidural? Because 1) It's rather boring to just lay there in bed because you can't move your legs and 2) my body wasn't made to give birth laying down flat on my back. That leads to more complications that could (and did, in my case) make for a longer and more painful recovery. I decided this time that I would rather go through a couple hours of intense pain than a couple weeks less intense, but still debilitating pain. And because there has been research done that proves a link between breastfeeding problems and epidurals. And because epidurals involve sticking a needle in your spine.

I'm glad this pregnancy is following so closely to Olivia's because I have some idea of what to expect. With Olivia, when they told me I was dilated, I thought I would give birth at any moment. Instead, it took a few weeks. Now I know more about how my body works. I'm still praying for a March 9th delivery (have I explained that? It's Josh's first day of spring break), but I'm okay with whatever God deems best.

So what do you think I'll be at next Friday?