I've read the last few posts about pros/cons of VE, what early dilation does/doesn't mean, etc.
But that doesn't mean I don't have my own questions about it!
We are having a homebirth and last week was our home visit with the midwife (at 36 weeks). She asked if my wife wanted her to check her, and she consented. At that time, the baby was -1 station, 1 cm dilated, and 50% effaced. The midwife did say it was a surprising finding (the effacement) for a first pregnancy at 36 weeks.
Later that week Tracy lost her mucous plug in parts and pieces (tinged with old blood). And everything we've read has said all this means labor could start in a day to 2-3 weeks. Tracy has also had real/painful contractions (not BH) off and on for about 2 weeks. A couple nights, they had us up and timing them, but never lasted longer than 2 hours at a stretch.
Jump to yesterday, and we had our next appointment with the midwife. Of course all week we wondered if there had been any progress, what it meant, etc. Tracy wanted to be checked and now the baby is at +1 station, 2 cm dilated, and now 80% effaced. The midwife suggested that the 50-80% effacement in a week was some pretty significant progress. And the baby is really low.
So what do you guys think? Is this significant? Can she really walk around with the baby that low and her cervix thinning that much for much longer? Her due date is the 24th, but I am really having a hard time believing we will make it till then.
Thanks for reading through all this! I know you guys probably get sick of some of these same questions, but this is our first pregnancy and we've waited a long time for it, and we are just crazy excited!
-Seb
But that doesn't mean I don't have my own questions about it!
We are having a homebirth and last week was our home visit with the midwife (at 36 weeks). She asked if my wife wanted her to check her, and she consented. At that time, the baby was -1 station, 1 cm dilated, and 50% effaced. The midwife did say it was a surprising finding (the effacement) for a first pregnancy at 36 weeks.
Later that week Tracy lost her mucous plug in parts and pieces (tinged with old blood). And everything we've read has said all this means labor could start in a day to 2-3 weeks. Tracy has also had real/painful contractions (not BH) off and on for about 2 weeks. A couple nights, they had us up and timing them, but never lasted longer than 2 hours at a stretch.
Jump to yesterday, and we had our next appointment with the midwife. Of course all week we wondered if there had been any progress, what it meant, etc. Tracy wanted to be checked and now the baby is at +1 station, 2 cm dilated, and now 80% effaced. The midwife suggested that the 50-80% effacement in a week was some pretty significant progress. And the baby is really low.
So what do you guys think? Is this significant? Can she really walk around with the baby that low and her cervix thinning that much for much longer? Her due date is the 24th, but I am really having a hard time believing we will make it till then.
Thanks for reading through all this! I know you guys probably get sick of some of these same questions, but this is our first pregnancy and we've waited a long time for it, and we are just crazy excited!
-Seb
