Last night at around 6:30pm I started getting painful contractions which continued to get longer, more frequent, and increased in intensity. At about 8:30 I called my doctor who told me that there’s no way to really tell if I’m in labor or not unless I go into the hospital, but also warned me that since I am a first time mom and I was only 1cm dilated the day before, there’s a chance that I am just having false labor.

I had a hunch that I was really in labor, since I had had my membranes stripped the day before and had been passing my bloody show for about 24 hours. Plus, while I had been having painful braxton-hicks contractions for months now, these contraction pains were different and much stronger.

We decided to wait an hour more, and when the contractions had been lasting 1 minute each and 2-3 minutes apart for that period, we decided to head into labor & delivery.

They hooked me up to the machines to do a non-stress test and checked my cervix…I was dismayed to find that I was STILL only 1cm dilated!

They confirmed that I was having contractions, but since the baby didn’t seem to be in any kind of distress, and because I was only 1cm dilated with no signs of progress, they sent me home. The nurse actually advised me to labor at home for as long as possible, even if my water breaks (since I tested negative for all infections, etc), so that my labor time at the hospital will be minimal.

The funny thing is, while hooked up to the machines at the hospital, my contractions started to decrease in frequency but increased on the pain scale. By the time we returned home I was barely able to walk/talk through them. I was exhausted after a couple of hours of continuing to time them, so I decided to head to bed thinking “How will I ever be able to sleep through this?”…

…then woke up 2 hours later with almost no contractions.

So was this false labor? Should I keep my hopes up that the contractions will return soon, or am I back at square one?

I wish my water would just break so I would KNOW if I’m in labor or not.

P.S. — While checking my cervix the nurse told me that she could feel the baby’s head. Freaky!

So the sweeping of the membranes seemed to have done something. I had some cramps after the procedure but ignored them (as I have been having cramps for the past couple of weeks) and took a short nap. When I woke up to pee, I noticed some blood on my underwear.

No reason to panic, since the doctor had warned that I might have some spotting. As as long as it’s not bright red and/or gushing, I had nothing to worry about.

It was only when I wiped that things got interesting. Was that…my MUCOUS PLUG? A bloody mucous plug at that.

Wait, I had read about this. Mucous plug + blood = bloody show.

I immediately turned to my pregnancy books and the powers of the interweb for their wisdom and advice about the bloody show. While some women lose their mucous plugs weeks before labor with no further progress, it seems that the bloody show is a slightly better indicator of things to come. 50% of women go into labor within 24 hours of passing their bloody show, “most” (whatever the heck that means) will go into labor within 3 days, while others can hang on for another week or two.

(And as if I needed more discouragement, OMGmom chimed in and told me that she went another two weeks after passing her bloody show. Thanks, Mandy!)

Needless to say I got pretty excited. I know I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but I’m sincerely hoping that I’ll be in the lucky 50% who goes into labor soon after passing their bloody show.

And to further entice my body, I vacuumed the house, prepared 순두부찌개 (soondubu jjigae, or Korean spicy tofu soup) for dinner and made it extra spicy, and even ignored my hip pains to go on a looooong walk, perhaps the most exercise I’ve gotten in months.

I will also be seducing my husband as we head to bed.

“But what if I don’t want to do it?”

“Too bad. I’ll rape you.”

“I’m scared.”

(To be completely honest, I have to give J mad props for continuing to have sex with me in my heavily pregnant state. I know it can’t be the most comfortable or reassuring thing in the world, nor can he be very much attracted to the whale that his wife has transformed into. So thanks, hubs!)

I will be sure to keep you all updated on my progress, or lack thereof. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that the baby will make her appearance soon!

P.S. — Isn’t it funny how just a year ago, Dooce blogged about losing her mucous plug and created such a “omg that was way too TMI” stir in the blogosphere? Now, here I sit, blogging about passing my bloody show. I’m sure people will find this offensive too.

P.P.S. — After I emailed my sister about what happened, she replied, “Bloody show? They really can’t think of a better name than that?”

This morning I had my weekly OB visit and whined to the doctor how miserable I have been feeling lately. While sympathetic, the only advice she could offer was nothing I hadn’t heard/read before (move around as much as possible, take Tylenol or a hot bath for the pain, “It could be any day now!”).

She gave me a cervical check to see if I am progressing at all, and I was sorely disappointed to learn that I am only 1cm dilated and 40% effaced.

“That’s it?!?” I wanted to yell. “Then why does it feel like this baby is between my knees???”

The doctor then proceeded to strip my membranes in hopes of speeding up the process some. If you do not know what stripping of the membranes entails, here is a visual:

Basically, the doctor uses a finger to separate the bag of water from the side of the uterus near the cervix. The process is believed to release hormone-like substances called prostaglandins, which help to ready your body for labor. If the woman is truly near delivery, she often gets contractions as a result of the procedure.

Although stripping membranes is not considered a form of induction, the hope is that it is a form of stimulation of labor. Done too early, it has no effect, but if the body is nearly ready anyway, it can give a little jump-start to the labor process and often leads to labor within 48 hours.

If you read about the process online, most sources will say something along the lines of, “Some women may find this procedure uncomfortable.”

That is the biggest understatement I’ve heard all pregnancy.

For me, stripping of the membranes felt like the doctor had shoved a paint scraper up my vagina and did a 360 sweep of my cervix using the corners of said scraper. I was wincing and squirming in pain the entire time — the procedure itself probably only took about 30 seconds, but it felt like 30 minutes.

Later, J was to tell me that from where he was standing, it looked like the doctor had shoved her entire hand up my hoo-ha to wrestle around with my lady bits and that’s why I looked to be in so much pain.

We left the doctor’s office after making next week’s appointment, sincerely hoping that there will not be a next week’s appointment.

But if I haven’t gone into labor by then, and we end up having that 40th week appointment, I will surely be asking to have my membranes stripped again. If 30 seconds of intense pain is what will help me go into labor, then by golly I will take it!

I am now 39 weeks pregnant and pretty miserable. Posts will continue to stay light as I continue to battle end-of-pregnancy symptoms (which include carpal tunnel so my time at the computer is limited).

I hear that the west coast is having a heat wave (one friend wrote on Facebook that it’s 112 degrees right now in LA) but we are cool and WET here in the northeast. It is supposed to rain for the majority of the week and while the dreary weather has dampened my spirits somewhat, I cannot help but be reminded that whenever something significant happens in my life, it is almost always accompanied by bad weather. Moving days? Rain. Trips? Thunderstorms. Even my own birth was marked by the worst snowstorm in Korea in 20 years. And the last time I visited Korea? The country suffered the biggest snowstorm since the winter that I was born.  The only exception to this rule thus far has been my wedding day, which was bright, sunny, and simply gorgeous.

So with less than a week left until my due date and my overwhelming desire to GET THIS BABY OUT NOW, I can’t help but be a bit superstitious and hope that the baby will decide to make her entrance this week in the midst of all this rain.

I have been feeling increased pressure “down there” (after all, experts say the baby now weighs over 7 lbs and is 20″ long) and have menstrual-like cramps all the time now. I have also been experiencing nosebleeds every day for the past week, and have been feeling pretty nauseous. Since I have my weekly OB appointment tomorrow morning, I will bring up these concerns with her and who knows? Perhaps she will do additional tests in addition to the usual heartbeat and amniotic fluid level checks to see how I am progressing.

But for now I will sit still and try my best to stay patient. And giggle over clever pictures like this:

Via The Daily What.

P.S. — I apologize to those who have submitted guest posts but have yet to hear from me. Please stay patient as I am going through them one by one, in the order I received them, and the process is taking a lot longer than I had originally thought.

I may just lose it.

This week has been especially difficult on the pregnancy front. The baby has definitely dropped, which means that I can breathe easier (literally, since she’s no longer pressing up against my lungs) but my hips feel like they’re going to split apart with each step that I take. The “kicked repeatedly in the crotch” stabbing pain is now persistent. My feet and hands are now constantly swollen. Carpal tunnel is making it difficult to type. (And I haven’t been able to play the piano in weeks due to my carpal tunnel. )

They say that in the last weeks of pregnancy, the baby’s movements will slow down due to the decreased space available in the uterus. My baby seems to be doing the opposite — she is now more active than ever and really HURTING me in the process. J places his hands on my belly with amazement at how sprightly and strong our daughter seems to be.

Everyone’s been telling me to get as much sleep as I can before the baby comes. I know they mean well, but hearing this really pisses me off because I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks. When I am not plagued by insomnia, I am kept awake by my gymnast of a daughter, or getting up to pee. If I haven’t slept more than 10 hours in three days, I will take a Tylenol PM to help me get some rest. However, I do not use it often for fear of becoming dependent on it as well as the fact that taking any sort of medicine during pregnancy comes with risks. J has been having trouble sleeping as well (sympathy pains?) so we feel that nature is definitely readying us for the sleepless nights that will come with a new infant.

I know the baby will come out when she is ready and that I should be happy to have a healthy baby thriving inside of me…

But I am so ready to have this baby now.

I confess that I’ve been trying to help induce labor via the many old wives’ tales that are out there. Walking is out of the question because of my hip pains. I have been eating tons of spicy food, massaging certain pressure points, eating eggplant parmesan, bouncing on the couch (because I do not have an exercise ball), and having sexytime with my husband.

Zip. Zilch. Nada.

At this point, I am even tempted to try castor oil.

The pregnancy boards have been abuzz this week with environmental factors that may induce labor: the super harvest moon (where the first day of autumn coincides with the full moon…for the first time in almost 20 years!) and the large storm that is headed to the northeast. Well the full moon has come and gone (although some people say that the effects can be experienced three days before and after the full moon) and I didn’t feel anything aside from a few extra contractions. All I can hope for is that the pressure changes that will accompany the upcoming storm will hurry things along.

I will hit 39 weeks come Sunday. Baby, please be a good girl and come within the next week!