slow progress
I went to the Dr. yesterday and I am still about 1-2 cm dilated, but closer to 60% effaced (last Friday I was 50%). So I am making progress, slowly. However, the baby is engaged! This means he has “dropped” and is in position, ready to go. The doctor estimates that as of today, the baby is 7 ¾ pounds.
I asked if he could predict when the baby might come, and he said he "wouldn’t be surprised" if he saw me at my regular appointment next week (7/2). Wrong answer! He then followed that up by saying I could go into labor this weekend, but he didn’t seem so confident about this second comment. Based on this, my guess is July 4th at the earliest... he could even come on his due date of July 13.
He also said I was showing a little big in the abdomen (2 cm bigger than average) but he said it felt like excess fluids, not an oversized baby.
Basically, I can't go into the hospital until I am at least 4 cm dilated. I've been told that I will know "it's time" when the contractions become painful enough that I can't talk. At that point, we should start timing them and if they are 5 minutes apart, we'll go to the hospital.
Over the last few nights I have been awakened by contractions, but they have not been painful, just uncomfortable. By morningtime, once I start moving around, they are gone, and I'll only have one every few hours or so.