In which we make a plan to make a plan

With 8 days till due date, we're still holding out a bit of hope that lardo will decide to shift himself all by himself, but apparently it's reeeally comfy in there (or was until the OB tried to work out exactly how low in my pelvis his head was by pressing REALLY hard around it, and Cuinn responded by landing me an almighty kick in some poor, abused, squished up organ that objected heartily), and he continues to lean towards being disinclined.

So, the plan goes something like this ...

We're going to make a plan, yes siree!

Ok, we do have a bit more than that at the moment, we just haven't made any firm decisions or concreted anything in.

Kidlet is due next Tuesday and our OB likes/wants/requires all IVF babies delivered by 41 weeks.

So, assuming his royal relaxedness continues to kick back and show me his feet, we're meeting with our OB again on Wednesday for a highly dignified examination to see if things are looking at all 'favourable' - either towards a natural birth, in which case we may let Cuinn hang around for an extra couple (literally, maybe 2) of days juuust in case or else we're being booked in the meantime for an induction on the 22nd/23rd. The induction is absolutely on the condition that all the stars are in alignment, and our OB will make that call next week. The concern is that an induced labour is a harder, faster labour, and kidlet isn't exactly incy, so if we push it too much eg. he's just nowhere near close enough to where he needs to be, I'll get into trouble and it'll end in a c-section anyway. But it could also be worth giving me a few contractions to see whether it moves him along as well.

And then, our other option if things just don't look cool at all, is a c-section which I think the intention would be to book closer to the 41 week mark, but we'll haggle a date out next week. I really don't think I have 2 weeks left in me though, so I'm hoping for a spontaneous labour, and focusing on the 22nd/23rd for induction. And, in the meantime, I'll probably just sit here and sweat profusely. Niiiice.

Cuinn is low, but not low, and he hasn't engaged yet which is the looming problem, but we don't want to rush him out too much either in case he actually needs the extra couple of days for whatever reason. But, it could be a plan to start feeding him mince on toast and extra silverbeet for dinner instead of smoked salmon and lamb steaks, that's for sure. Even I can see on the scan that he's looking very chubby and far too happy.

So, I guess, you continue to watch this space ... and I'll continue to weigh up whether not shaking a baby extends to jumping up and down to try and shift his kiddly butt.

I think I'm ready to have him out now. And, on the bright side, I'm apparently in "bloody good nic" heading into the birth (I don't feel like I'm in bloody good anything, but then I'm talking through complete lack of sleep and thinking about a kicked-to-death abdomin, and our OB is looking at my haemoglobin and iron levels blah blah), whatever form that takes, so hopefully that'll help me back on my feet again afterwards.