Stress-Free Stripping

Well, the good news is that I made it into the maternity ward today! The bad news is I left, full-bellied and empty-handed.
When a pregnancy goes beyond its expected due date, like mine, the woman gets to have some special appointments with her doctor. One of those is for a Non Stress Test (NST), which is what I had today. For about 20 minutes I lay quietly (thus the Non Stress part) while monitors picked up the baby's heart rate, movements and any contractions I might be having. Then the doctor did a quick ultrasound to check the amniotic fluid levels and health of the placenta. Sometimes these tests can reveal signs of distress in an over-cooked baby, which can be cause for an induction (eviction).
No distress with this baby. She's got plenty of fluid for floating, her heart is healthy and strong and everything in general looks just fine. I suspected as much. I'll confess to hoping for a little distress, just enough for them to say, 'Why don't you just stay and we'll have a baby today?' But truthfully, I'd prefer a healthy, if somewhat late, baby and delivery.
The encouraging news is that my body is showing some signs of progress. Since last week the baby's head is further down, and my cervix is 50% effaced and 1 cm dilated. This made it possible for the doctor to strip my membranes. If all else is favorable, this minor intervention could kick-start labor and we might just end up with a little firecracker baby!
In the more likely scenario that it actually has no impact at all, I will be back at Falmouth Hospital on Friday morning for another round of Stress-Free Stripping.
Here's wishing everyone a happy 4th. I hope my next post has more reason for celebration!