6.24.03

tomorrow marks the start of week 41 (aka: 7 days overdue and yes, i'm counting).

yesterday we had our non stress test and our 41 week appointment with dr. katz. the NST went well and baby tsao passed with flying colors. during the test she moved a lot and when she moved her heartrate increased. this is a good thing. to check her reaction to stimuli, the nurse placed this buzzing beeping thing on my tummy right next to her head. that made her move. a lot. it didn't seem very nice, but mike and i both thought it was funny. we're sadistic parents already!

the doctor's nurse seemed surprised to see us and weighed me for what i hope is the last time. i now weigh 200 pounds. this is a frightening number to see on a scale. the doctor performed an exam and then "tickled the baby's head." well that's what she called it, but really she stripped my membranes, which doesn't sound nearly as nice but more accurately describes the sensation. [sometimes the act of stripping the membranes between the cervix and the amniotic sac will jump start labor.] she said i'm almost one of her fingers dialated, but that she has small fingers. hehe. that would put me around .5 to 1 cm. dilated.

anyway, on to the good part... we have an appointment for our induction! if i don't go into labor on my own before friday, we go in on friday night at 5:30. if i haven't dilated more, they'll start me with a prostaglandin gel to prepare my cervix. i'll stay there all night. in the morning they'll start pitocin and we will have our baby no later than sunday. yay!

my spirits have much improved now that the end is in sight. and who knows, maybe i'll go into labor this week. my aunt mary is positive that it will be tomorrow. that would be fine, too. the house is clean top to bottom and my mother is almost done with her jigsaw puzzle. the timing couldn't be better.

here's a picture of me taken by mike during the NST. he has a cell phone that has a built-in camera (nokia 3650). i normally don't see myself from this angle and i look huge. and tired. people, i promise that the next picture you see of me will contain a wrinkly conehead baby!



p.s. i almost forgot... i got a promotion! i'm now a senior technical writer. it's nice to be recognized for the work you've done for a company.

xoxo
mary [mary @ marytsao.com]