Ready to Go

Yesterday, I visited my midwife and had a cervical "massage". Let me tell you that anytime a midwife asks you if you want a massage, you should know that it is NOT a massage and is more like prodding! But I should know that from my perineal massage experiences...

Anyhow the idea is to find out how your cervix is doing - i.e. is it dialating, effacing or softening, which are all precursors to labour. Secondly, the massage is done to stimulate the cervix to produce prostaglandins, which are the hormones released that start the abovementioned cervical contortions!

So after finding out that I was about 1.5cm dialated and 50% effaced, the massage was performed which stretched me a further centimetre or so.

After spending the rest of the day with menstrual-like cramping and crazy Braxton Hicks contractions (both side effects of irritating the uterus), I tried to get some sleep. At midnight, I woke up to some harsh BH contractions, coming at regular intervals. At 2:30am, when they were about 5 minutes apart, Jason and I decided to page our midwife.

She advised a warm bath after my descriptions to her, and because I was still able to talk through my contractions while I was on the phone with her. Sure enough, I had a bath and the contractions ceased.

I woke up 5 hours later with more contractions. They have been going ALL DAY. My midsection is continuously one rock-hard lump weighing over my bladder, which has been flattened to a pancake.

I'm doing everything I can - sex, exercise, Ninth Month Tea - and soon I will have some spicy food. Maybe eating jalepenos while doing jumping jacks?

BABY GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT.... Hotel Callie-fornia is closing it's doors!