Monday was my 36 week appointment, I’ll be going in weekly
now. If things are interesting I will blog after each appointment. For this
post there is good news, bad news and good news again. The first bit of good
news is that as of my appointment I was dilated to a “one” ooowe :)
Specific to CP
The bad news is though that my adductors (thigh muscles)
apparently were tight and my OB was concerned that they would be to tight to
allow the baby though. It is true though my legs were tighter that day than
usual due to needing to go up and down stairs. She then asked me if I thought
an epidural would loosen my muscles—I had no idea. Then we started to
discuss having a C-section, not my favorite idea because I would like to be
pregnant again before the recommended recovery time of 18-23 months. She wanted
my adductors evaluated, so the next day I went into the physical therapy clinic
to get everything measured. I avoided stairs prior to the appointment but avoided
any other special preparation so the measurement would be accurate. The final
good news is that the physical therapist’s report stated that he didn’t think I
would have a problem opening my legs. He didn’t have an answer about the epidural
but that’s okay, no one seems too.
Those of you that read the post concerning my birth plan know
that an epidural isn’t my favorite idea because I am fairly prideful about my
pain tolerance. I think I’m tougher than most and could cite dozens of reasons
why—it’s a bit of a problem. I think though that I will take the epidural on
the off chance that it will loosen my muscles and make birthing easier. Even if
it doesn’t loosen muscles it may well help avoid additional constriction of my
muscles that might be brought on by the inevitable pain. Since I really want to
avoid a C-section I don’t want to have any regrets about what I could have done
to (potentially) prevent it.
I should mention before I close this post that I am experiencing
considerable pain in my hip, knee, and ankle joints. I feel like I’m ripping
them apart every time I need to stand or walk up stairs, and I feel that I am
crushing them in unnatural directions when I put weight on them. I hope that
these things do not cause permanent damage, but what will be, will be. I’m not scared at this point of another
pregnancy, I definitely want to have at least two children. Like I said before
siblinghood is very important to me. I however feel that it is necessary to be
as honest as possible in expressing my experience. These last few weeks have
been very hard on my body.
