Baby Watch - Sat, 5:30 p.m. PST - READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

No baby yet. I'm on my second day of Cervidil which does seem to be doing its job of effacing and softening the cervix. However, our baby isn't due for another two weeks and apparently knows it. He/she is refusing to move down (so far) into the pelvis. This is a problem because what actually gets labor moving is the pressure of the baby's head on the cervix. They can't break the water due to the risk of the cord coming out ahead of the baby - a VERY bad thing.

Tonight they will run another fetal monitoring strip (basically following the baby's heartrate as I have or don't have contractions). They put me on libidilol (sp?) - a beta blocker for my blood pressure. It's doing the trick there, but they are keeping me here because blood pressure is only one symptom of preeclampsia. I likely don't have preeclampsia, but it's such a rapidly moving and dangerous condition once it develops that they (and we, frankly) don't want to take any chances.

Tomorrow we meet with the attending OB and the general practioner into whose care I've been transfered (the midwives are still involved, but this is beyond the scope of their practice) to decide what to do. Likely, they will start an oxytocin drip (similar to pitocin - used widely in the US) and see if the contractions bring the baby down into the pelvis. They will probably monitor the baby continuously to see what effect the contractions have on the heartrate. I have no idea how long they will allow me to continue this. There is a fair chance that the baby won't drop because it simply isn't "ready" (it's physically ready, just not ready to move out of its nice cushy room yet).

I've been through a whole range of emotions over this. We've seen multiple doctors who all have something different to say. Believe me, I'm as sick of waiting as you are - probably more because most of you can at least go out to dinner or to a movie tonight.

I'll continue to update the blog with pertinent information, but I'm going to completely focus on getting this baby to move down tonight. I'm not taking phone calls, so check here for updates. No news means no news. We won't hold out on you.