38 weeks & counting

13Jun08

It’s been about 2 weeks since I blogged. It’s amazing how time seems to fly by so quickly. So here’s a long update.

I distinctly remember at 36 weeks waiting quite excitedly for Qiqi to hit 37 weeks so that she could be considered full-term. And now, here we are – 38 weeks full term with all systems ready to go. As Nana, another preggie colleague calls it, Qiqi is engaged and ready to launch.

Houston, we’re good to go…

Well, though Qiqi has not yet decided to make her grand entrance into the world, she certainly is making her presence felt more and more. At approximately 2.7-2.8 kg, she is exerting a great deal of pressure in my pelvic region, making it painful to stand up from a sitting/lying position. But thankfully I am still fairly mobile and walking isn’t much of a problem - so I’m taking full advantage of the ongoing GSS Just following doctor’s instructions actually – walking is supposed to make labour easier.

Funnily, I realised last week that even at my advanced stage, I have more energy than hubs when it comes to hitting the stores. I wonder who the pregnant one really is. Mum, of course, is my enthusiastic shopping companion as we visit both the heartlands and orchard to check out GSS deals. It’s so nice to have a mummy to shop with.

The pre-labour contractions have also been coming on more often over the last 2 weeks. Last night’s contractions were actually painful. Like very bad menstrual cramps, I was in pain around 4 am. Not wanting to wake hubs up for nothing, I decided to time the contractions myself.

But klutzy me forgot what time interval would constitute real labour. (Makes you wonder if antenatal class was a waste of money). At that point, my first urge was to get up and google for some last minute revision. Gosh, it’s astonishing what a google addict I’ve become. Of course I didn’t do it coz I was in pain. So I just laid there and when the pain finally subsided, I managed to get some sleep. Hee… the fact that I managed to sleep shows it wasn’t real labour pain.

Hmm… that’s not a bad way to establish if I’m in real labour. Heck the timing routine.

Going au naturale

A few nights ago I suddenly woke up in the middle of the night and decided that I wanted to experience a natural onset of labour. No inducing or checking into hospital at doctor’s timing. It’s odd that since pregnancy, I find myself having more of such experiences – answers come to me in the middle of the night, as if my brain has been surreptitiously making decisions on my behalf, and then waking me up to inform me of them. 

So that night I spoke to God and asked Him for the opportunity to experience all the fluster, panic and uncertainties that come with a natural labour onset – be it while at home, at work or god forbid… while shopping! Actually if I do deliver while at, say, Robinsons, it might not be a bad thing. Who knows, they might make me a VIP member, or at least give me some shopping vouchers.

Robinsons – The Sale Truly Worth Waiting For

Of course this waiting game is fraught with the unknown. Would my waterbag burst while I’m at work? Would I ruin my mattress with amniotic fluid? What if, like some, my labour came fast and furious and I could not get to the hospital on time?

A million doubts – but still I want it au naturale, complete with a euphoric potpourri of mad excitement, panic, pain and rush

Labour Onset

Well, with inducing out of the way, I began wondering what actually causes the onset of labour. Many websites claim that the true cause of labour is unknown but I managed to find an explanation from Birthing Naturally.

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Contrary to popular movies, labor seldom begins with a sudden strong contraction that makes the mother double over. Instead, your body begins preparing for labor weeks before your baby is born. This is because the labor process is controlled by hormones. It takes time for your body to build the hormones to the levels necessary to maintain labor.

As your baby becomes ready for birth, his brain and the placenta begin releasing a series of hormones to prepare his lungs for breathing. These same hormones cause his body to produce oxytocin, the hormone that stimulates your uterus to contract. Because hormones transfer between your blood and your baby’s blood, the hormones your baby produces affect you as well.

Your baby’s oxytocin increases your estrogen production. Increased estrogen production increases your uterine sensitivity to the oxytocin your baby is making causing an increase in contractions. The estrogen your body made increases your body’s production of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins help to soften the cervix so it is ready to stretch to allow the baby to pass through. The stimulation of your uterus and cervix signals your pituitary gland to produce oxytocin, which causes more contractions.

This process of hormone stimulating the production of more hormone continues, spiraling closer and closer to actually starting labor. Eventually, the hormone levels will be high enough that the contractions produce enough hormones which cause enough contractions to make more hormones to begin true labor. Until that day, you will experience more frequent periods of contractions that end because the hormone levels are not yet ready to maintain the contraction cycle.
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So there you have it – it’s all hormones at work (and play).

Cravings

I realise that I’ve not mentioned anything about my pregnancy cravings so far.

Hubs is one lucky man because the only craving I have is for ice cubes. That’s right – the simple humble ubiquitous ice-cube.

I wish I could have asked him to get me something more exotic, like Katong’s Laksa or Lakeview’s prawn noodles, but alas, all I wanted and craved was the dull and boring ice-cube. With Qiqi due anytime, I realise my privileges as an expectant mummy is coming to an end soon. I should really think of something for him to get me before Qiqi comes. If not I won’t have the typical “cravings” story to tell to Qiqi next time… heehee…

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