Target Sighted.

The end is near. Seriously.

Okay, first off, here are the boring stats:
Total weight gained: 45 pounds
Blood Pressure: 129/78
(not bad, but a good bit higher than my non-pregnant bp of about 90/60)
Total Babies Hiding out in there: 1
cm Dilated: 0
Percent effaced: 0

NOW, on to the important stuff.

My cervix is changing, even though it has not yet dilated or effaced... It is getting softer, which is a good sign that things are at least moving forward, if not as fast as one might hope.

We scheduled an induction for next Wednesday, October 5, at 8:30am.

I go back into my OB's office next Tuesday to do a cervix check. If my cervix has begun to dilate and progress, EXCELLENT, we will move forward as planned. If I have not progressed as well as we had hoped, I will most likely be heading into the hospital on Tuesday evening for a Cervidil treatment which will hopefully encourage things along and begin dilation. Once I am dilated 2cm or so, whether by nature or by Cervidil, we can start a pitocin drip on Wednesday morning at 8:30, break the water sometime fairly soon thereafter, and... with any luck.... 12 hours or less later we will be greeting our new baby boy.

Mark your calendars, people.... October 5, we are looking for an induction.

There is the slight chance that I will not dilate on my own, and that the Cervidil will not work..... in which case, I would go back home and wait until there is another opening and I have progressed, or until I go into labor spontaneously. In case of this scenario becoming reality, please send flowers care of Northern Virginia Maximum Security Mental Health Clinic, as I will most certainly need to be institutionalized for a seriously long time..... My hopes are UP, people... everyone cross fingers, toes, elbows, and knees for us, because we are going all in that this baby will make his appearance sometime next Wednesday!!

And yes, that was a shameless poker reference... because yesterday I managed to make it to 70th place out of 245 on my computer poker tournament. Hey, Mama can make a baby and Mama... she knows how to gamble. (And really, isn't that redundant?)