Due Date

Saturday, June 11, was my baby's due date. If you know me, you will not be surprised to learn that my baby did not arrive on time.

From the beginning, my doctors have been clear that they do not want me to go too far past my due date because of the risk of stillbirth in women over 35. On Monday and Thursday I had special antepartum testing, including a non-stress test with a fetal monitor.

If I don't go into labor on my own, I'll need to decide between a c-section and an induction. There is something called a Bishop Score, which takes various factors like whether your cervix is effaced and dilated and how far your baby has descended into the birth canal, and predicts the likelihood of success of an induction. As of Thursday, my Bishop Score was low, meaning my cervix was closed up like a fortress, and the baby was way high up near my chest, so I elected to wait a few more days.

In the meantime, I must count fetal movement twice a day. If I have 10 movements in an hour, then everything is okay. Usually I get 10 movements in 10 minutes.

Today, though, my baby was lazy, or sleeping, and so it took more than an hour to get the 10 count. I worried about it and worried about it, and finally called the doctor, who said, "Come straight to the hospital. No goofing around!" I tried to remain calm. I did not want to panic my mother, or my dog, or my husband.

Once there, I did another non-stress test and the nurse said everything was absolutely fine, at which point I began to cry.

We see the doctor again on Monday.