Today marks 36 weeks complete.
The weekly doctor’s appointments now begin – starting this morning.
The typical appointment goes like this: check in, pee in a cup, get weight and vital signs, see nurse practitioner (who is usually accompanied with some type of student), hear baby’s heartbeat, check out, go home. They are usually uneventful, and not very educational. If you report a problem they usually say “sounds normal”. Or if you report a problem that isn’t normal they say “Sorry, we don’t know why. Call if it gets worse.”
But today we came armed with questions. Things we need answers to. Things like:
How long will I be admitted in the hospital after delivery?
Does the baby stay in the room with us after delivery, or will they take him to the nursery?
Will I stay in one room from delivery through recovery/post-partum?
Will they feed him a bottle if I’ve chosen to breast feed?
How big do you think the baby is right now?
When will they perform circumcision?
Will you ever check “down there” to see if these contractions are doing anything!?!
And one more that I wanted to ask, but didn’t:
Can you just induce me, today,…please? Thanks.
The questions have spurred because of various reading Brendan and I have been doing, and the books have all been very helpful in preparing us (especially in lieu of birthing classes which we opted not to take). The one question Brendan really wanted to ask was:
Can we take the placenta home with us?
OK. So he didn’t really want to ask that. I think his question was more like: Do people really want to take the placenta home with them? ARE YOU KIDDING? WHY?!
So this is what we learned:
When I go into labor, we’ll be admitted to Labor & Delivery. Once the baby is born, he will be scooped away (after we meet and greet him of course) to the nursery for about 90 minutes. During that time they recommend that “Dad” go with the baby…while “Mom” gets cleaned up, put back together, and transported to the Postpartum Unit for recovery. After we’re all back together, we’ll stay two nights in Postpartum. The baby gets to "room-in" with us, and they will not bottle feed him. The circumcision will happen on the last day – if we choose (we do).
We also learned that we need to find a Pediatrician, because they will be asking who that is before we leave the hospital.
Another thing we need to do is install the car seats. They recommend (and offer) a car seat inspection at the hospital. The NP threw out some statistic like: “80% of car seats are not properly installed.” Maybe I’ll do that on one of the days off before I deliver. I’ll have to be driving up to Palo Alto for doctor appointments, so maybe I can fit it in.
At 36 weeks, they do a Strep B test. Along with the test (since I had to undress) my NP offered to do a cervix check if I wanted. My NP has always said that they don’t check unless there’s a reason, so I wasn’t expecting it.
“Yes!” I want to be checked.
I continue to have a lot of contractions, which have gotten painful in the past week. They aren’t unbearable, but have on occasion woken me up in the middle of the night.
I also noticed – earlier this week – that I’ve added a waddle into my step. This is because I’ve had increased pressure and heaviness in my pelvis. It feels like a 10 pound sand bag. I’ve been wondering if the baby “dropped”.
So! With the disclaimer that it isn’t a predictor of when labor will start, and that we should not be encouraged or discouraged either way, the NP went ahead to check me. What we learned was that my cervix is softening, and is about 40% - 50% effaced. I’m dilating a little, but I can’t recall the exact number. She more emphasized the softening and effacement. She also noted that the baby’s head has dropped in the pelvis. The baby’s station is -2 to -3. Click here for definitions on what this all means.
Even though I know that I’m not supposed to be encouraged by this news – I have to admit I feel happy about it. Sometimes I wonder if all my discomforts are just in my head. It feels good to know that the contractions aren’t for not, the waddling is for a reason,...and it reminds me that this baby will be out soon enough. I often feel that I’m drudging through with no end in site – but that just isn’t true. We’re having a baby, and we get to meet him soon.
The NP also estimated that the baby weighs approximately 5 pounds. Not a big baby (though I still think he’s going to be long!).
Tonight, after work, my co-workers held a baby shower for me. I cannot believe how generous they all are. I had such a fun time with them. Vecepia planned all sorts of little games. I have to admit I was a little hesitant going in – knowing there might be cheesy games – but we all had a pretty fun time and laughed a lot!
After the shower, I rushed off to catch the bus to get to the train station. After getting to the station, and buying my ticket, I shuffled (waddled) along to catch the train. In doing this, I lost my footing and fell down flat on my face. OK – it was my knee. A nice guy helped me up. Thank goodness he was nice enough to help, because I’m not sure I would have been able to do it. I had a backpack, my purse…not to mention the extra 30 pounds. I probably would have missed the train. Along with the embarrassment, humiliation, disbelief that it happened, and the stinging pain in my knee – I cried like a little girl.
Luckily, Brendan made me laugh when I told him about it – causing the tears to vanish instantly.
Now – I’m propped up, in jammies, Bulldog at my side, Tylenol on board…blogging away.
...and still counting down.
Ah, you poor thing! I fell when I was pregnant too, and it was the worst feeling. Your whole sense of balance is completely thrown off.
Posted by: Stacey | March 11, 2007 at 08:24 PM