The beginnings of labor? Umm...sort of!

On Monday, the 17th, I was felling lots of pressure again, and I actually had a little bit of blood when I wiped after using the toilet. It wasn't like a period, but more like a slight nose bleed. It appeared for a couple of days, and Dr. M had told me that it was probably my mucus plug coming out. I also started to feel some minor contractions on Monday as well, which lasted throughout the week. My sister lent me her exercise ball this week, which helped my back pains when sitting. On Sept. 18th, I went in for another appointment with Dr. M. This time, she was there. I weighed in at 160 pounds, but my belly measurements weren't taken. I first went on the monitor, which actually showed that I was having consistant contractions that were 3 minutes apart. They didn't feel strong, though. Dr. M did the 36-week, swab test for bacteria and checked me. I was 75% effaced and 3 cm dilated. Baby looked good and active on the monitor, but the doctor still wants me to sit and rest when I can. She said that I didn't have to be on bedrest, but I needed to take it easy. She wanted me to call her if any of the following happened: 1) my water broke, 2) the bloody show looks heavy, 3) the baby stops moving, or 4) I start to have really bad contractions. It seemed that that was the beginning of labor for me, which would last weeks. Sorry to burst your bubble, but there wasn't going to be a September baby. I thought it would be great to get the kid out in September, but he just wasn't ready. I say that this was somewhat the beginning of labor because I was already 3 cm and progressing, but slowly. Maybe this would make actual labor easier. We'd have to see. At my Sept. 21 appointment, my belly measured at 39 cm. Someone somewhere had once said that the amount of centimeters a belly measured was actually the amount of weeks the baby should be measuring at. Boy, I hope that was a falsehood. I would hate to have a baby who measured 48 weeks when it was all said and done. Is that even possible? I didn't want to think about it. That would be crazy! This appointment was nicer since Dr. M told me not to worry about resting and to do, pretty much, whatever I wanted. That was a relief, because maybe it would mean the baby would come out sooner. I had a few contractions at this visit, but I didn't really feel them. I had an ultrasound, which showed lots of fluid still, and the heartrate was 135. I wasn't checked at this visit either, so I would have to assume that my cervix was the same.