13 days till the estimated date of birth

[ 0 ] 17/07/2013 |

This morning we went to Mater Dei and it was the first time I got connected to an electronic fetal monitor. The reason for this is to monitor and record the baby’s heart rate and the maternal uterine activity. An elastic belt was used to hold sensors against my abdomen and the monitoring lasted around 30′-45′. It was painless and simple.

Erik seems to be doing fine with no signs of distress, and as he was quite active, Roy was very happy to hear a midwife commenting that he’s gonna be a football player 🙂 The monitor also showed that I have light contractions, and according to the doctor who later on examined me, this explains the mild cramps and pains that I’ve been experiencing the last 3 days.

According to an article at The Maternal, Child and Health Engagement Branch of British Columbia website, the first stage of labour has three phases: early, active, and transition. It begins with contractions that continue to increase in length and intensity, and ends when the cervix is fully dilated. Click here if you want to go through a summary of the key points of the 1st stage of labour.

In my case, it looks like I am entering the Early first stage though the cervix is still closed. This worried me a little bit since the whole process tends to be slower the first time and I am afraid of going past my due date. The mild daily contractions should help though and the doctor who performed the internal exam, explained that the examination itself might also help to speed up the dilation process. So now it’s waiting time, and if nothing happens till next week, we have another appointment on Wednesday.

Here’s a picture of how an electronic fetal monitor’s results look like:

electronic fetal monitor

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