38 weeks bumpdate. ((the TMI edition))

Dilation & effacement, cervical checks, and mucus plugs--oh, my!

Welcome to week 38, my friends...

The past week has been another doozy. Some days I'll feel fine for large swaths of the day (isn't "swaths" a fun word?), and some days I'll feel royally crummy the entire day. The main things have been contractions, ranging widely from mild Braxton-Hicks tightenings to crampy, painful, all-out contractions that seem like the real deal...until they taper off. My uterus thinks it's so funny, pulling these early April Fools' jokes on me. ;-P

I've also been having some increased pelvic pressure--I guess that's the technical way to say it. Basically, my vajayjay feels like it's being sawed in half by a dull hand saw. I'm pretty sure that's the result of the weight of a person's head pushing down on my lady bits! That'd do it!

I had my first cervical check at my OB on Monday, and boy, was it uncomfy! I'd even go so far as to say it was a bit painful. He said my cervix is still long, but it is soft, and 1 cm dilated. So, by his reckoning, still quite a ways to go. All evening afterward, and the following morning, I was significantly crampy and also wiping light pink/brown blood. Which, according to Dr. Google, is all very normal post-cervical check. I was kind of wondering if he did a routine membrane-sweep while he was spelunking in there, since my body's reaction was so noticeable? Dr. G. says some OBs do that.

Then, this morning...I most definitely, certainly, without-a-doubt lost my mucus plug. I actually didn't expect it to be so obvious; I figured I'd pass little bits at a time and never really know it had happened. But nope, it was right there on the TP for me to see this morning, a very textbook type of mucus plug passage. Who knows whether that means anything is imminent or not, though; I could go into labor in the next 24 hours, or it could still be weeks. But I guess what it does tell me is that I've probably dilated more than that little 1 cm from Monday. So regardless, progress is a good thing, even if it is vague progress!

Mr. Epic had really been hoping for an April Fool's baby. It's not really looking very likely, but not impossible at this point. Guess we shall see!