Well, we’re now at 3 cm.  These numbers are a fairly significant point for several reasons, all unbeknownst to us until this last appointment.

Reason #1: Once you’re at 3 cm & 80% effaced, the doctor says delivery will occur within the next 7 to 10 days.  He prefaced this with “When I see you next week, I’ll still have 3 days to be right”, so we’re still trying not to get too far ahead of ourselves.

Reason #2: 4 cm & 80% effaced is the point that triggers the baby to begin to descend, and active delivery begins.

The good news: The doctor drew a graph of the labor process at Jill’s appointment yesterday.  Now unfortunately he drew this diagram on a sheet of paper that went into the file, so I didn’t get to see it, nor scan it to share.  However, it showed a graph of dilation & effacement, and where the lines all met for delivery.  The good news is that he says most people come to the hospital on “this end” (the right side) of this graph, but where our numbers are puts us 3/4 of the way to “the other end” of the graph, meaning that labor *could* be 8-10 hours rather than the normal 18-20.

So we continue to wait, hopeful that we wont’ be waiting too much longer!