39 Weeks, 4 Days Pregnant

I was feeling a bit too lazy and distracted to write about my experience again, but here is what I wrote (with a few changes) to my best friend Sarah Ayer in an email (she's serving a mission in Ecuador and so email is the only way to reach her kind of quickly):

I went to my 39-week appointment yesterday (it was Harry Potter's birthday, for anyone who forgot ;) and got my membranes stripped around 5pm. In case you don't know, that basically means the doctor puts his fingers through my cervix and separates the baby's sac from my uterus just around the opening. It sounds awful, but it didn't feel any worse than it does when he is checking my cervix...just tons of pressure (it feels like he's trying to put his hand all the way to my belly practically...ugh.). Also, I had heard that it hurts a lot, so I had a high pain expectation but it really wasn't bad. So I was at 1cm dilated and 60% effaced (same as last week...) which made me really sad. Like I started to cry because I was so frustrated that no progress had been made and I just want her to be here already. I'm tired of waiting. I was embarrassed that I cried, but my doctor was really understanding and he didn't seem too surprised that I was getting emotional.

So after my appointment, we stopped at Target for a short while to get a few things then headed home. When I used the bathroom I realized I was bleeding quite a bit. Enough that I freaked out because (depending on the circumstances) my doctor told me if I bleed and have cramping, it is an emergency for me and the baby because it means the placenta may have detached. He said like call 911 or go straight to the hospital. So naturally I panicked (thank goodness Dalin was calm) and we drove right to Orem Community Hospital. I was crying on the way because I was so scared something would happen to our sweet baby girl but I was too tense and nervous to calm down and check if she was moving at all.

They admitted me at the hospital and after not too long, checked my cervix and told me I was dilated to 2+ and more than 60% effaced! They also told me that bleeding after having one's membranes stripped is fairly common and usually nothing to worry about. (But it was a lot of blood I thought...more than just a little spotting). So they kept me for an hour and Dalin and I just watched TV  meanwhile and tried not to get too excited. After an hour, they checked me and said I was at 3cm and 80% effaced! So they held me for another hour, after which there was no change from the last time. So after speaking with my doctor, they sent us home but told us they think we'll likely be back in the next day or two!!!!!!

So our daughter is close to being here by the sound of things. I truly hope so. She has to come out sometime, right? I went to work today because I felt good this morning (I slept surprisingly well). While there, I had some more intense contractions and back pain but it was on and off and not very consistent. Since being home, the contractions have increased as the night has gone on. I felt some sharp pains the last few hours which I am pretty sure were the baby's head hitting my cervix but they stopped after I laid down for a while. 

Well we're going out to pick up my mom right now (she flew in two days early) so I'll have to finish this later! 

Pray our daughter comes to us safely and healthy!