Week 36 Doctor Visit

Just got back from my week 36 doctor visit.

* We listened to the baby's heartbeat -- 140 bpm.

* He did a culture for Group B Strep; I'll know the results of that at my next visit.

* I gave him our Birth Plan, he's going to make a copy of it and send it over to Labor and keep one in my chart.

* He measured my uterus, measured 35cm, exactly where I should be for just having finished 35 weeks.

* He palpatated the uterus to feel the baby (still staying head down - good!) and says she feels around a 5 pound baby (which is where she should be and I am happy about, as I have 5 weeks left and at this stage they are increasing in size around 1/2 pound a week, so no 10 pound baby for me, probably not even an 8 or 9 pound, unless I go over.)

* Took my weight, gained 2 pounds in the last 2 weeks, which is what you are supposed to be gaining at this stage of the pregnancy, a pound a week, and of that 2 pounds I gained 1 pound went to the baby's weight, and the other stuff is in a variety of places - fluid, breast size, fat, etc. I'm doing good on my weight gain. You are supposed to gain between 25-35 pounds (if you started out around average weight, more if you were underweight and less if you were overweight.) And I'll be right in that range, unless I decide to start pigging out on Krispy Kremes, pizza, & chocolate chip cookies like I did in January (& gained too much weight, but it all worked itself out and I am still in the right range for weight gain.)

* Blood pressure still looking great! I am usually around 110/58.

* Talked to him about whether he knew for sure or not if he will be out of town on Memorial Weekend (& if so, when will he be gone, as he thought a while back he may be gone.) That weekend is 1 week past my due date. Well, it turns out that he happens to be on call that weekend. And he said if I don't have the baby by the 21st we can schedule an induction for the end of the 41st week or first thing in the 42nd week, but he doesn't like to wait to the 42nd week. So, if the baby doesn't come on her own, it looks like we'll be parents before Memorial Weekend.

* He checked my cervix and it's very high. The baby has not begun to drop yet, which from what I read usually starts to occur in week 36.

* I had talked to the nurse (before the doctor came in) about the doctor being 99% sure it's a girl. And she said as long as she has been there, she has never heard of our doctor being wrong. She said other doctors in the clinic have been wrong, but he hasn't. She said he just won't tell the parents unless he is 99% sure and has a very clear ultrasound that shows the sex. He was even the one who had typed on the ultrasound pictuer "It's a Girl" So, now I feel a little better, because I have had about 6 people in the last month tell me that they thought they were having a girl (because their doctor told them, not mine) and it turned out to be a boy, and only 1 person who told me their doctor told them it was a boy and turned out to be a girl. I would be just fine with a boy, and the nursery is pretty gender-neutral and I did buy a bunch of clothes that are yellow & green, but everyone else gave me tons of pink stuff. Now sure I want to put a little boy in pink & lace.

* We also talked about the tearing (or cutting) of the perineum. He's a big "studies" kinda guy and said that women who stay within the recommended weight gain are less likely to tear or tear as much because they still have a little bit of stretching room to their skin. Another indiciation of how much stretching room or flexibility your skin has is whether or not you received any stretch marks (none for me so far - let's keep our fingers crossed.) And fnially he said is I continue to keep trying & getting out there and going for walks my skin will tend to be more flexibile and make it less likely I will tear or need an episiotomy. Of course, he can't promise all of this will keep me from tearing or needing one, as the baby may decide to be uncooperative in her positioning or I may not be relaxing as much or they may need to get the baby out quicker and need to do an episiotomy.

* We also talked about full moons and women going into labor. I watched a show about how more women end up going into labor on full moons than any other day. He said he knew of studies being conducted looking at that, but wasn't sure of the results or if they studies were complete, but that in his own experience he did tend to see more women going into labor (& more people in general going to the hospital) on full moons. BTW - the next full moon is Saturday, May 13th (the day before Mother's Day.)

I think that's it. Yup. That's it.