The Leviners

This morning I woke up with excitement thinking that this would be the day we'd be headed to the hospital. I had a "minor" issue and thought that I was getting ready to be in labor but after calling the doctor at 7:00 am, he told me that what I was experiencing (won't discuss here but if you have the latest edition of the book "What to Expect When You're Expecting turn to page 363 and look at the first set of bold words on the far left), was normal and that now I'd be waiting for contractions to begin. So all day I've waited and NOTHING! Oh well let's see what tomorrow brings!

I mentioned in a previous blog how my OB practice will allow me to go a week over my due date. Their reasoning is that it would be best for a woman to go into natural labor instead of being induced. I'll be induced on Tuesday if natural labor does not occur for me within the next several days. As I was pondering the reasoning for going into natual labor I ran across a magazine article on the subject. It comes from the April 2009 "Baby Talk" magazine:

"Every Week Counts"

"Full-term and wishing your doctor would induce you? Don't push it. Babies induced or delivered by scheduled c-section at 37 weeks have a 100 percent increase of complications, and a 50 percent increase at 38 weeks, a new study shows. These risks don't apply if you naturally go into labor at that point. Why? Nature knows when the time is right. At 37 or 38 weeks, rapid development can occur. 'Think of it as your baby lowering his landing gear- every extra week helps ensure a safe landing', says study coauthor Lucky Jain, M.D., a professor of pediatrics at Emory University in Atlanta."

From reading this I trust my doctor's decision for allowing me to go past my due date. My only fear is that she'll be so big that I'll struggle during delivery and when I brought that up he said there's no way to tell until I'm in labor.

I am very thankful that I'm full term and a few days over is just fine too! I just can't wait to hold her and kiss those chubby cheeks!!