Nugget's Prenatal Appointment - 39 Weeks

Both Nugget and I are doing fantastic. Everything is right on track. For those following my progress toward the birth, I am now 60% effaced (that's 10% up from last week), and still at about 1.5 cms dilated. AND Nugget has dropped. Of course, like always, this doesn't actually mean anything, these aren't indicators at all - I could still go post date or have the baby tonight, it's all a mystery, but progress is good! I'm thinking that this weekend will be a good time to start following the advice of Rachel's OB on 'Friends' in "The One Where Rachel is Late". I'm not late or anything, but it would be nice to have this baby, or at least we'll have fun trying to start labor!

For those of you who want to know what all those terms mean, read on. For those of you (like Sully) who have no desire to know what exactly is happening to my internal organs, you might want to stop here, although I don't think these descriptions are particularly gross or anything.

Dilation: This is the one that most of you probably already know. Basically this is the cervix opening up for the baby to pass through. It's measured from 0-10 centimeters. At 10 centimeters, the mother can generally start to push the baby out, although some don't get the urge immediately, usually because the baby hasn't moved down that far yet (see Station).

Effacement: The thinning out of the cervix. A cervix is usually like a cone that sticks out of the bottom of the uterus. When a woman is preparing for childbirth, the cervix starts thinning, or disappearing. It basically gets sucked up into the uterine wall or becomes part of the uterine wall. Keep in mind that the cervix can be closed and still effacing. When the cervix is effacing it also gets softer and more pliable, thus making it more able to dilate. In first time moms, most of effacement usually happens prior to dilation, although in subsequent births, they can happen simultaneously.

Station: I don't have numbers on this one yet, but it's basically how far into the pelvis/birth canal the baby is. I know that the Nugget's head is at my cervix, since the midwife could feel his/her head, and I'm guessing that Nugget's head is somewhere in my pelvis, since he/she has definitely dropped, but I don't have a station number on it. Station is measured from -3 to +3, where -3 is floating unengaged over the pelvis, 0 is reaching the ischial spines on the pelvis, which means that the widest part of the baby's head is engaged in the pelvis, and +3 is when the baby is crowning, or visable at the vaginal opening to the outside world.

(Diagrams from http://www.healthline.com/images/yodo/big/obip02-05tcg-g1.gif and http://www.healthsquare.com/fgwh/wh1c2603.jpg)