arrhythmias and inductions.

it has been a whirlwind last couple of days where this pregnancy/baby are concerned.  we had our 39 week appointment yesterday (wednesday) morning, even though it was technically 38 weeks, 4 days.  i try not to get too hung up on exact due dates, but that is hard when you spend 9-10 months with the date january 12 looming in front of you. 

anyway.  appointment was routine and good.  my belly measured 40 weeks.  liane offered to strip my membranes (justin will surely give me grief for over-sharing again), i declined.  i've been having some fun contractions in the evenings, but nothing too crazy and nothing timeable yet.  we got out the doppler to listen to bebe for a minute, and liane noticed something a little off.  as we listened, justin and i could hear it too - an arrhythmia.  this is the point where i am exceedingly thankful for how calm and wonderful my practitioners are.  liane explained that it is likely nothing - they see arrhythmias very frequently and it always ends up being just fine on the outside.  but, she checked with dr. c to discuss what we should do - an NST or an ultrasound.  doc recommended a trip to the fetal u/s specialist, dr. darby, so we headed to his office and luckily they were able to get us in right away. 

the short story is, skipper looks great.  i have a good amount of fluid, s/he is head down, all things are go for launch.  also, baby's heart looks perfect, structurally.  but, s/he definitely has a supra-ventricular tachycardia.  which basically just means that sometimes, his atrium gets over-zealous and gives an extra beat.  then, the ventricles try to either catch up by beating hella fast, or they skip a beat.  the super fast beating is where the concern comes in - baby's heartbeat can rocket up to 250 or so for that one beat.  which means there is less great blood flow, but more importantly, it just makes the kiddo super tired.  so.  dr. darby said he would call my doc, but that if i didn't have the baby by friday, he'd like to see me again on friday just to look again. 

i can't really explain why this information has not flipped me out more than it has.  of course, i am concerned (as all parents are with any news about their children).  but i really believe and feel like this is totally fine.  liane called me shortly after she and campaigne talked to dr. darby and i went and got my membranes stripped.  we talked about various courses of action.  no one is in an extreme hurry, but we all feel like it's time to welcome baby to the outside...or at least, give him/her some strong nudges in that direction. 

so, last night we hung out.  had a nice dinner.  took a nice bath.  got some on-again, off-again sleep.  this morning, i headed back to the office to see dr. campaigne and discuss.  though she is not worried enough to expedite this process more aggressively, she did suggest i head to the hospital tonight after emme goes down and my parents get to town.  she stripped my membranes again, so it's possible/likely things will start moving forward on their own over the course of the day.  but, if they don't, we will do a little dose of pitocin for an hour or two at the hospital, then break my water to get the party started. 

i am comfortable with this plan.  those who know me well know how non-interventionist i am with these things, but i totally believe my body and this baby are ready.  i also believe that minimizing stress on me and the bebe are in everyone's best interests, and this seems like a good, not super-invasive way to do things.  i like spontaneity, but this is a decent compromise.  i mean, hey, i didn't know i was being induced until this morning! 

anyway...if all goes according to plan, we should have another baby in the next 24 hours.  wow.  please keep us in your prayers for an easy, unmedicated birth and for all good things with little skip's heart.