I had an email from my expectant-mother friend on a Tuesday, simply asking me to “take a look” at her and the baby. She said she was 31 weeks along. I was happy to do this, and on Thursday, I sent this email reply:
“Well… She’s very wiggly. She’s head-down at the moment, but of course, that can change. Looks to me like the birth will be relatively easy—yay for you! I also am getting ’38 weeks’, which is perfect, fully-baked but not too humongous. She is smarter than either of you, which is saying something, and will amaze you all her life with her wisdom and intellect. She has a lot of purple and pink around her now, spirituality and divine love, respectively. Not really surprising, I guess, for a fetus! I really can’t see a single problem. More purple. Put some purple in her room. It will be her favorite.”
After I hit “send”, I re-read the mama’s email. She implied that there might be a problem, that something had happened. I tried to remember what tests are done at 30-31 weeks, so I could anticipate what might have happened. I “looked” again at the baby, and still couldn’t see anything wrong.
So I called my friend. She said, “I JUST read your email! And you are so spot-on with everything!”
She went on to explain that, as a first-time mom-to-be, she didn’t realize she had been having contractions for a while. At her 30-week visit, her doctor noticed that she was not gaining enough weight and that her cervix was becoming effaced (thinning out prior to delivery)–way too early. In addition, the baby’s head was “engaged”, or in position for birth. Mama was put on bed-rest.
So…
- Yes, the baby is super-wiggly and has been all along.
- Yes, the head is down right now, although the baby has come back up from being engaged in the pelvis–very good news.
- Yes, the parents are hoping to make it to 36 weeks, so my prediction of 38 weeks is a good possibility and very reassuring–and remains to be seen!
- Yes, the baby’s room is already purple (and green)…
Mama was delighted and so was I.