Deja vu - we're overdue!

I'm not surprised that Tex's due date came and went, quietly and contractionlessly, last week. After all, Peanut decided not to make her debut until a good 14 days after her official EDD. I suppose there's something very comfortable about that womb of mine. And, honestly, this time Peanut's Dad thinks its also been a matter of our 'nest' not being quite ready and this information has somehow has been transmitted to Tex. We have many balls up in the air right now....but, more on that later.......

Now, here we are, week 41. I had a regular drs appointment scheduled today and they conducted a non-stress test to make sure Tex was still happy. In Finland, our first overdue testing didn't occur until 10 days past the due date. Here, we're only 4 days past the EDD. My drs wasn't overly concerned about anything yet, but scheduled a heartbeat monitoring for today.

As usual, I waited nearly 30 mins past my appointment time before being called in. Then, I was set up with the external fetal monitoring belt connected to the machine recording the heartbeat. In Finland, when they did this, the midwife sat with me during the 15 - 20 mins marking accelerations on the print out. Here I was given a call-button to press whenever I felt the baby move. This would mark the chart so they could make sure Tex's heartbeat accelerated with his movements.

I hadn't felt him moving while waiting and thought he might be napping so I suggested to the nurse I should eat something. She suddenly pulled out a small device and zapped me with it! It didn't hurt and it was more vibration than zap, but completely unexpected. She gave my belly a few zaps and said it sometimes works to wake the baby up. No reaction from Tex. He responded much better to the CapriSun juice the nurse brought me next.

Tex's heartbeat and movements showed him to be just fine and an internal exam showed no new developments. We have gone ahead and scheduled an induction date since labor & delivery gets booked up quickly. Until then, we continue to wait :-) Send Tex welcoming vibes and perhaps he'll soon decide its time!

How overdue babies are monitored

Week 41 + 3 days

So, we're not officially overdue until week 42 according to the doctor today.

In Finland, once you are 10 days past your due date, you are sent to your maternity hospital for observation rather than your usual health center (neuvola). We are registered at the Kätilöopisito (Midwife University Hospital) or "Kättäri" in Helsinki.
http://www.hus.fi/default.asp?path=1,32,660,546,960

When I called to make my appointment last Friday, I was told it was very busy today and was asked if we'd be willing to have an intern participate in the interview and ultrasound. I agreed since I know its an important part of their education and was assured that the students would be supervised in the interview by the head doctor.

We first met with a midwife who used an external heartbeat monitor for about 20 mins to see if the baby was under stress. She also handled the usual clinic-visit tests: blood pressure, urine analysis and belly palpatations to check on the baby's position.

We were then passed down the hallway to wait for the intern -- or what turned out to be interns. First, a group of three males who were then joined by another two female students! It was quite an audience, but they were all very pleasant. One was acting as the examining doctor and ran through a routine list of questions about my current and past condition. The doctor himself came in towards the end of the interview and listened as the intern reviewed what he had learned.

I then moved onto the examing table - fully clothed since this was just an external exam and ultrasound. I found it interesting to listen to the doctor as he explained to the students what he was doing and why. He also did the routine palpatations to check the baby's position and head position (degree of engagement) and measured the size of the uterus.

He introduced a 'potato sack' move for guesstimating the weight. With his hands cupped on either side of the belly, he gave it a moderate shake to see how much moved and how much resistance it gave him. One of the students, later tried the 'milk carton' method where by eyeing how many liter sized milk cartons would fit across the belly, he came up with his own estimate.

Following the doctor, the interns lined up to have a turn nudging and measuring my belly. I had to draw the line at three of them as I began to feel a bit dizzy from laying down on back so long. They were all most concerned about having cold hands -- and one of them must have really been rubbing his hands together to warm them up before touching me :-)

Next up was the ultrasound examination. This was performed entirely by the doctor with him occassionally posing questions to the students. He first checked for the amount of amniotic fluid by scanning the four quadrants of the uterus for pockets of it. Next was a review of the health of the placenta which evidently begins to calcify and become porous as it ages. He then checked for 'breathing motions' - either by actually watching the diaphragm or stomach move. Following that was a review of the heartbeat and bloodflow through the heart. Last up was a birth weight estimate based on the circumfrance of the head, length of the femur and most importantly - the size of the stomach! This was a surprise to me, but evidently, its one of the most reliable measurements for babies and adults, alike. The ultrasound's automatic calculations were throwing up very odd estimated due dates and the doctor explained that the earliest ultrasounds are actually the most accurate and the later it gets, the less accurate this estimate becomes.

We picked up all sorts of extra details and information from the lecturing the doctor did during the examination, but it was a bit strange sitting there feeling more like a case study sub ject than the actual patient. I've decided against having any students attend the actual delivery and birth because of this - no need for an audience or anything that will take the concentration from us. After sharing this part of our pregnancy with a group of interns, I can with a clear concious refuse :-)

At the close of the visit, we as group discussed how ineffective estimated due dates actual can be. Only a very, very small percentage (around 6%) of babies are actually born on their EDD, yet the anxious parents-to-be (not to mention the equally excited relatives and friends) often watch the date come and go. Though we tried to prep ourselves that its plus/minus two weeks from the due date, being on the minus side was definitely easier. And, even if 'overdue' doesn't officially kick in until 42 weeks, we find ourselves constantly talking about Peanut being late and answering curious inquiries from family & friends who wonder if we've just forgotten to inform them about her birth. The doctor was proposing a 'birth month' as guidance for expectant parents rather than a date to be circled on the calendar. I think it would have relieved me of some anxities and the feeling of somehow being off schedule.

At this point, the doctor said no internal exam was neccessary because whether the cervix was ripe or not was almost immaterial since there have been no contractions and everything looked normal. He went on to explain to the horror of the students that the US, they most likely would not let a pregnancy carry on so long and would force the cervix to ripen manually with a balloon sort of instrument.

In the end, the prognosis was that Peanut was doing just fine still and there was no reason to help her out yet. We have another appointment in three days for a similar examination.

Total cost = 22 euros

The three 'S's - sauna, siivous ja seksi

As our due date came and went last week without any indiciation from Peanut that she was ready to head out anytime soon, we gained some local advice from work collegues and friends about how to hurry along the process.

The solution lay in the Three S's - sauna, siivous and seksi.

Sauna - the most Finnish of institutions - its our local steam bath. A standard feature in virtually every home and apartment complex, the sauna holds a mythical place in solving many - almost ANY - problem that we face through life. Even at our wedding party, we were given guidance that our marriage would survive any bump along the way that could be solved with Sisu, Spirits or Sauna (another magical threesome!).

Sauna's also have played an important role in childbirth in the years before everyone lived in cities or near hospitals. It was often the most sterile and cleanest environment in the home, thus serving as the place where many babies were born.

But, I don't know that I'm completely sold on the idea of a very, very hot steamy room in relaxing me at this point. Nine+ months is not a comfortable state to be in no matter the temperature. Heating up above the 60C seems like the wrong way to go. There would be sweat rolling into all those new pregnancy induced wrinkles, dimples and corners. Yewww....

Then again, I have yet to try it. Maybe its just what is needed to relax the back aches and still loosening ligaments. Unfortunately, we don't have a sauna in our apartment so a hot shower will have to serve as my substitute!

Siivous = Cleaning. Yes, I admit the 'nesting' instict took over at some point in the last weeks of pregnancy - for both me and my husband. I've been driven to organize, sort out and rearrange nearly every shelf, closet and box in our home. He's diligently vaccumed and mopped every last corner and put his handywork skills to work building a changing table top and creating a bathtub hanging system. Last week, I found myself ironing everything in my husband's closet and even shining his shoes (they were looking so dusty in the recently mopped hallway!). Now the only thing left are our two kitty-cats who don't realize how close they are to getting a bath.

Evidently, the cleaning is either supposed to get mom moving enough to get baby out or its just a sign of the impending birth. Either way - I'm still in one piece and running out of things to clean!!! Ahh, but, the windows - I haven't washed the windows yet.....

Seksi - yes, sex. When I first heard this idea, I thought this must be a list created by men. Supposedly there is something in the semen that stimulates the hormones that start labor. So goes the wives tale that is not exclusive to Finland.

Now, my husband has shared several males views he has heard about sex with a highly pregnant woman - somewhat incestuous, concerns about disturbing the baby and requires creative navigation. And certainly from the highly pregnant woman's point of view its not too much more exciting since at this point its very difficult to move in any direction in any position . I'm not sure who's idea this was!

And, should all that fail, a collegue of my husband's suggests a PlayStation2 to help the time fly by.....