Week 31 Doctor's Appointment

We had a quick appointment today. My weight is the same, and my blood pressure a little higher. Elsie's heartrate was about the same. I asked the doctor if he has any concerns, and he said everything is great. He asked if she's moving OK. I told him she was. In fact she punched the wand the nurse was using to get her heartrate. :) She's kind of feisty sometimes. I don't blame her. The nurse was pressing really hard. If I didn't have more than 30 years of practicing self-control, I might have tried to punch the nurse, too.
From here on out we'll have weekly appointments with ultrasounds. In 6 weeks she will no longer be premature. If she isn't here in 8 weeks, they'll induce. We've got quite a bit of preparation to do, especially on the nursery. I'm hoping to have it ready and our hospital bags packed by the end of August just in case she decides Labor Day is a good day for me to be in labor. It would take incredible timing and an unrealistic prenatal appreciation of wordplay for her to plan it and pull it off. But she's already shown she's got a better concept of time than I do.

Curry for Everyone!

For a while I've noticed that Elsie likes chocolate. I've considered that she's just getting a sugar rush and reacting to the energy surge. Today, however, I am absolutely certain she reacted to something I ate. It wasn't sweet, so it wasn't just a sugar rush. I had Indian food for lunch, butter chicken, and a cucumber tomato salad. When I would take bites of butter chicken, she would dance (Bhangra?). When I would drink tea, eat salad, or forget to eat because I was looking for zucchini recipes online, she was still until I took another bite of curry. It happened over and over. I enjoyed both the Indian food and the dancing. As soon as we had finished lunch, I went to tell Matt. We love ethnic foods and would like Elsie to enjoy it, too. It would make eating out as well as eating at home nicer if she wasn't on a chicken-nugget-only diet. Her preferences now may not make a difference in the future, but it makes me excited to experiment on her in the future. :)

The Simplified Desired Gear List

I think the Amazon registry is in good shape now: http://www.amazon.com/registry/baby/XKGORJ9IOUAR.

I had a hard time with the registry because registries can require you to be too specific. For example, at some point we will need a convertible car seat when she outgrows the infant seat we already have, so I'd like to put that on the registry. However, I don't know which convertible car seat we want. I read reviews, but I feel ill-equipped to select one. Somebody else with actual experience with babies and car seats could probably pick one for me and I would be happy with it. But there's no way to put "pick a convertible car seat" on a registry. 

Below is a list of things I think we need. Most of the items on the list are on the registry. In many cases the items on the registry are just examples of the kind of things we want and the colors and models are suggestions. I've split the list into two parts: what we'll need immediately and what we'll need later in the first year. I've also got a list of what we have, which some people might find helpful, but it seems like overkill right now, so I'll keep that one to myself for a little while.

0-3 Months
1-2 Covers for contoured changing pad
Bassinet/play yard sheets that fit our Boppy brand bassinet/play yard
A wrap carrier like a Moby wrap for baby wearing
Stroller base that our infant car seat fits on
Mirror for car
Diaper pail
A few small Dr Brown's bottles and level 1 newborn nipples
Breastmilk storage bags
Size 1 & 2 disposable diapers & wipes

3+ Months
Breathable crib bumper
1-2 fitted crib sheets
Fabric travel high chair
Toys
Convertible car seat
Larger bibs
Umbrella stroller
Diapers
Clothes
Possibly - Crib and mattress (We have a hand-me-down crib that probably doesn't meet current safety standards but is still probably safe. If we got a new crib, we might need a new mattress.)

Mid-July Garden Update

The Squash Ghetto 

Spaghetti squash hangs from the trellis
behind the corn. The plant is withering,
and there are squash bugs everywhere,
but I hope the squash hangs in there
until it ripens enough to eat it.

The sugar baby watermelon is really growing!

Butternut squash is looking good.

The Annex

An eggplant bud is starting to turn into an eggplant.

The fennel isn't looking very perky.

I pick a couple of handfuls of really ripe
cherry tomatoes nearly every day.

The Pea Haven

Prolific purple hull peas. I'll pick some this weekend.

Similarly prolific green beans to pick this weekend as well.

Kicking Me When I'm Down

I normally enjoy feeling Elsie kick. For one thing it means she's still alive. It's reassuring to wake up in the morning and get a strong kick. It's also nice that I can count on a good 11:30 p.m. kick. I don't know if these are friendly "hi, mom" kicks or something else, but I'm glad they happen. She has even started kicking when I'm in the bath tub or swimming. In the past, if I was in water, she was still. She doesn't kick much when I'm active, but if I take a little break she takes her turn to wiggle and kick. I tend to smile and compliment her when she puts together nice combo moves: jab, cross, kick.

However, there have been a couple of times I felt sick and she became active and made me feel worse. There was the time when my lactose intolerance triggered colon spasms and freaked her out. At least that event didn't last long. But last night I felt bad all night: I was tired, I had been a little too active, and I had eaten a cheeseburger at 10:00 p.m. Yes, I did it to myself, but I felt pretty bad. She played a little at bedtime like she normally does, but she's gotten better about settling down when I make shushing sounds, rub my belly, and tell her it's sleepy time. (She didn't pick up on that as early as Neil did, but I'm glad she's catching on. It's especially interesting because I had expected her to react to my voice like Neil did but she doesn't seem to care what I say. She goes nuts for Matt but doesn't pay any attention to me when I talk. I tend to sound a bit petulant when I express that opinion. Her calming down when I shush and speak soothingly makes me feel like we've connected in a new way.) When she accepted it was sleepy time, I fell asleep quickly. But, of course, I woke up a few hours later to go to the bathroom. And shortly after I climbed into bed still feeling sore and sick, Elsie got the hiccups. Ugh. She banged against my sensitive digestive system and bounced off my tightly-stretched and already sore belly. It was awful. I knew she couldn't help it, and I sympathized with her. Hiccups are no fun, even if they mean that her diaphragm is practicing and strengthening for breathing after birth. And she didn't get just one case of hiccups. As soon as one set would subside, a new set with a new rhythm would start. About that time I heard Matt in the kitchen and called him in. I was tired and sick and feeling alone and told him I didn't expect him to do anything about the first two issues but that he could at least help me not be alone. He sat with me for a while with his hand on my belly and got to feel the hiccups, too. We complimented her on her strong diaphragm, which will be important when she's in band one day. (I think we're pulling for a woodwind instrument but would be OK with brass.)  :)  I got the most relief when I was sitting completely upright with my legs in butterfly pose. Being upright let gravity assist me with the heartburn, and butterfly pose opened my pelvis and gave her a little more room so that she didn't slam into my organs quite as hard. Eventually, I found a way to prop myself in that position and fell asleep for a few more hours.

I woke still sore and uneasy but still thankful for my wake-up thump from Elsie. Some OTC digestive aids, Tylenol, and a warm bath with Epsom salt and a little stress relief aromatherapy bath salts from Bath & Body Works (and some Googling to reassure me we weren't gravely ill) got me in good enough shape to go to work. My digestive system is still uneasy, and she was particularly active between 9:30 and 10:30 this morning. But both my stomach and my daughter seem to be settling down at least for a little while.

Rodent Update

Matt brought the car seat, bassinet, and swing downstairs for me to examine. I found no nibbles. I did find a few mouse pellets. Most fabric parts are removable and machine washable. I sprayed he car seat cover and swing seat with an antibacterial spray and put them in the washer with some antibacterial hand soap. That's wash #1. I plan to wipe them with antibacterial wipes and do wash #2 with baby detergent to remove antibacterial residue and then put them in the dryer for a few minutes. I think the hard surfaces can get away with the antibacterial spray and wipe followed by a wash and rinse to remove antibacterial residue. So overall it's good news. Everything seems usable, at least after repeated washing.

What Elsie Needs

What Elsie needs most is to put on weight, to practice breathing, to avoid umbilical cord accidents, and to wait until September to arrive. But none of that is within any of our control. We can pray, but it's not in our control.

So instead we make plans and buy stuff we think she'll need after arriving. As I've previously said, shopping is a way of wrapping my head around big life changes, so I've done a bit of shopping to make the idea that I have a daughter more concrete. I knew that we already had a lot of clothing due to people's generosity when we were preparing for Neil. We have plenty of gowns with cute animals on them and short sleeve onesies with sports equipment and dinosaurs on them. But Elsie is a girl and a fall baby, so I figured some of her needs were different. For one it might be nice for her to have a few things that looked a bit more girly as well as a couple of dresses to go with all the sports equipment and dinosaurs she'll be wearing. For another she would be more likely to need long sleeve onesies early on. With that in mind, we got some long sleeve clothes and dresses at a Carter's outlet in Missouri in May, tights and headbands and a swimsuit at Other Mothers in Springfield, and footed pajamas at the Goodwill store in Lebanon (where my OB's office is). I got things in a variety of sizes and seasons because I hope she'll stick around and grow. I'm pretty sure my mind has now caught on that I have a daughter.

This is what I've labeled PJs in my inventory.
Yes, those are turtles and flowers on those cute PJs.

At the start of the third trimester, I started looking over the baby stuff we've got so I can figure out what to put on a baby registry. I've got a registry started on Amazon, and as soon as I've finished it, I'll post a link to it. Last time we also did a Wal-Mart registry, but nobody else's Wal-Mart had the same items that ours did, so it didn't make buying what we needed any easier. We'll just stick with Amazon this time.

The first items I looked at were the clothes. We have LOTS of clothes, possibly enough to get us to Christmas. Here's what I inventoried:

Item	# Owned
Swaddlers	3
Hooded Towels	3
No-Scratch Mittens	3 pairs
Booties	3 pairs
Socks	12+ pairs
Hats	5
Gowns	7
Sleep Sacks	2
Hooded Snow Suits	1
Clothes - Newborn
Long Sleeve PJs w/ Feet	3
Long Sleeve Onesie	1
Short Sleeve Onesie	6
Pants w/o Feet	3
Clothes – 0-3 months
Long Sleeve PJs w/ Feet	5
Long Sleeve PJs w/o Feet	2
Long Sleeve Onesie	9
Long Sleeve T-Shirt	1
Long Sleeve Side Snap T-Shirt	1
Short Sleeve Onesie	16!
Short Sleeve T-Shirt	1
Short Sleeve Side Snap T-Shirt	2
Pants w/ Feet	2
Pants w/o Feet	3
Jeans	1
Denim Overalls	1
Dresses	3
Cardigan	1
Sweater Vest	1

Comfy gowns and sleep sacks
for lounging at home.

We plan to put her in gowns and sleep sacks a lot when we're just staying at home, so the other clothes are necessary mostly for when we take her out. Since she's a fall baby, we probably won't take her out in the cold more than we have to, especially during flu season. Matt and I don't go out often now without a baby, so it wouldn't really be a change to stay home and sit around in our PJs with her. :)

I also found that we have more than a month's supply of baby wipes and disposable diapers (in a couple of sizes). And I've got a little bit of cloth diapering stuff that we can experiment with at home after we survive the first month or so. We'll eventually need more, but that's at least enough to get us started.


We probably don't need any store-bought blankets either. We welcome home-made blankets. If you have a talent for quilting, sewing, crocheting, or knitting, feel free to make a blanket especially for Elsie. I treasure the blankets I have from grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents and love the idea of Elsie having items made by family members. But we have a few receiving blankets and quite a few blankets and quilts, and crib bedding is discouraged by child safety experts. So if you see a cute blanket in a store, don't buy it unless it comes with promises of instant infant soothing and a money-back guarantee. If you do see such a  miracle blanket, please buy it. Buy two. :)

I just started looking at the baby gear a couple days ago. The gear inventory will probably need to be a different blog post. I went upstairs to the attic-like room that the baby gear was stored in and brought the breast pump and diaper bag downstairs. I had never opened the breast pump, which I got for less than $40 on clearance from Target. I just wanted to make sure it didn't look used: I don't think I like the idea of my daughter ingesting strangers' bodily fluids. Not only was the outside box still sealed but the individual components inside were also perfectly sealed in plastic. It seems to be new. Hurray! The diaper bag was not as hurray. There were a few items still in it: a sample package of baby wipes, a few diapers, and a Wint-O-Green Lifesaver. The Lifesaver had obviously been nibbled on. And on further inspection so had the baby wipes. Ugh! Mice in the baby stuff. The diaper bag itself didn't have any mouse pellets in it, but there was some fraying on one edge. I'm not sure if it was like that before, if it was caused by velcro snagging or by mice snacking. I also don't know if I can clean it enough to make me forget about the mice crawling through it. I looked on Amazon for a new diaper bag just in case, but I would want to see and touch a bag before getting it to make sure it seemed like it would meet our needs. Never having used a diaper bag, I don't even know what those needs are, but I feel like I could rule some bags out by handling them first.

Nibbles or snags on the diaper bag? I'm hoping it's snags.

Now that I know that mice have been around the baby gear I need to clean and inspect it all thoroughly.  I would have cleaned it anyway, but I'll probably disinfect and steam clean everything multiple times until my mind no longer sees phantom mice skittering over it. I'll try to do that soon so that I can assess any damage, figure out what we need, and finish the registry.

75% Complete

We had our 30 week appointment with the OB today. Hurray! 30 weeks is 75% of the way to 40 weeks. The plan is to have a baby before 40 weeks, so we're more than 75% done with this pregnancy.

The appointment went well. I haven't gained weight, but no one's worried. My blood pressure was 99/65, which is much lower than it has been, but no one's worried. The doctor did do an unplanned ultrasound. We don't know why. Matt thinks he was killing time. He had a scheduled C-section in another hour or so, and we were the last patients of the day. So we got to see Elsie again. Her hands were by her face, and her jaw was moving; so we think she was sucking on her fist. She kicked a little. Her thighs looked kind of chubby already. There was a good amount of amniotic fluid keeping her afloat. He estimated she weighs about 3 pounds. (That's his guess not the computer's projection based on measurements.) The doctor was a little obsessed with her bladder. It was full, and he wanted to watch her pee; but she refused to urinate on command. We spent more time looking at her full bladder than we did looking at her face. It was a remarkably large bladder compared to her other parts. Matt was impressed with her self-control, her ability to hold it so well. I'm thinking of future diapering and wonder if she'll hold it a long time and then wet through everything when she finally does release it. We may have to double diaper her if we don't want to change the sheets and her clothes every time we change her diaper.

Also for no apparent reason, the doctor wants us to come back next week. We were supposed to start weekly appointments at 32 weeks, but he wants us to come back next week and then start weekly ultrasounds the next week. He said we're "special." We have no reason to think anything is wrong other than the fact that they've withheld concerns before to keep us from worrying needlessly. The doctor seemed impressed with everything he saw today, so we're assuming he's being overly cautious. We're seeing the other doctor next week, and I've wondered if he'll be confused to see us again before 32 weeks. I was certainly confused while making next week's appointment.

I did learn from the receptionist that their standard procedure is to contact ultrasound patients if the ultrasound tech is going to be gone for the day so that they can reschedule. If she's going to be gone for a whole week, they send you to the hospital for a non-stress test instead; but if they can just reschedule to another day that week, they prefer to do that. That's good. We'd prefer to do that, too.

It only takes one bloody pumpkin bite before you start carrying a stick to the ghetto

The garden is doing great. Produce production has increased significantly. So far I've harvested 6 cucumbers, 3 zucchinis, a pint of cherry tomatoes, a couple pounds of turnips, a few beets, more than a gallon of green beans, and outrageous amounts of chard and kale. I've been very impressed with the garden this year. That doesn't mean that I haven't had some failures; it just means I've learned from my past failures enough to see improved results. This year my lessons have been about feeding plants,controlling bugs, selecting better seeds, and using space wisely. Lack of nutrients was killing my tomato and squash plants a few weeks ago, so I started using Miracle-Gro on them, and they perked back up. I've also figured out that using Miracle-Gro on my plants will generate usable produce sooner, which is especially important for plants that bolt in the heat (broccoli, fennel). And in the future I will prepare the soil better by adding some sort of fertilizer in the spring before I plant. For the most part I haven't had problems with bugs eating everything in sight. Some were snacking on my baby green bean plants, so I found a recipe for a homemade concoction to spray on them. It seemed to work. I also wanted to avoid corn earworms. I hate those things. It's so gross to pick a pretty ear of corn and find that a fat grub has started eating it already. I read that a few drops of vegetable or mineral oil on the silks will prevent them, so I'm trying it. We'll see in the next month whether it worked or not. My other big bug problem is squash vine borers. Last year they ate my spaghetti squash before I could and decimated my zucchini plants before they had produced much. I recognized them infesting my squash ghetto and knew I had to take action before the entire ghetto was compromised. My research suggests that wrapping the base of young squash plants with aluminum foil to prevent the borers from getting in in the first place is the best solution, but it's a bit late for that now. So I found an insecticidal soap spray that's supposed to help control them. The soap is approved for organic farming. I'm not a nut for organics, but I'd prefer the veggies I grow to not potentially poison us. It would be a shame to increase the veggies in our diets and get sick from it. I started hunting for different varieties of basil seeds when my recent attempt at pesto was nasty. Previous attempts had also been nasty, but I thought it was because the basil I was using had already turned bitter. My basil isn't bitter yet, so I was hoping for better results. I was disappointed. So I researched a bit and found that there are basil varieties that are better for pesto than others. I just ordered Profumo di Genova basil seeds from Amazon and am hoping they will make good pesto in September. The last thing I've learned is that some plants get bigger than I expect, so parts of my garden need to expand a little next year. The purple hull peas are growing riotously. I had to put up a little fence to keep them from overrunning the green beans. They could use another block-length of width, which is easy to fix for next year. I will also probably fence them again to make sure they observe some boundaries. They have no concept of personal space. I also need to make sure that veggies in blocks don't interfere with veggies in pots and vice versa. My turnips and rutabagas in blocks have prevented my kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli in containers from getting the light and water they need. And the plants in the blocks around the squash ghetto are having trouble getting light now that the squash leaves are getting huge and growing everywhere. A little space would benefit all of them. The squash ghetto itself needs to expand its width by a few blocks. Some of the vines stretch the length of the ghetto and have had to be turned back to grow towards the plant again. It's crazy. I've put up tomato fencing around the perimeter to keep them from growing into the yard and interfering with Matt's mowing. They are growing so thickly that it's hard to harvest the produce or spray the vines with insecticide or add some Miracle-Gro. This is why I ghettoized the squash. They grow everywhere and are hard to control. I've already had to barricade them, and I recently had to start arming myself. I picked up a pumpkin vine the other day to move it into a better position, and it bit me hard enough to draw blood. I decided that what I needed was a stick to move the vines aside. I found one today, and it was very helpful when I sprayed for squash bugs. I hate to feel the need to be armed in the ghetto, but I also don't want to end up bleeding every day. I'll expand the ghetto and see if that helps. I also decided today that I should try to sew simple grow bags out of lawn fabric to put inside of the blocks in the future. It will be so much easier to get the soil back out to be mixed with fertilizer if I can just pull the whole grow bag out and refill it. Grow bags are available from Amazon; but I've got a plan in mind, and I have the lawn fabric and a sewing machine. We'll see how it turns out. Now that I've got empty spots after harvesting beets and turnips, it's a good time to try something new. The explosion of produce has led to a flurry of cooking which has made the kitchen a bit messy which has displeased Matt. (I'm not thrilled with the mess either, but I at least get the joy of making the mess in the first place while creating things.) But I expect some of the cooking to slow soon. The turnips and beets are requiring more processing than other veggies--for one thing, they produce both roots and edible greens that have to be cooked separately--and now they've all been harvested. I'll replant soon for a small winter harvest. The tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, and purple hull peas should come in at more reasonable rates because they are continual producers and don't have big one-time harvests. I also got the great idea to make borscht (Russian stew) out of my beets, but I chose a recipe that requires making my own beef stock out of marrow bones slow simmered for hours with carrots, garlic, and onions. The beef stock is fantastic, and I'll have enough to make both borscht and French onion soup; but it's also been another project to mess up the kitchen.

Third Trimester Photo Shoot

Today we had an ultrasound to check Elsie's growth. I was thrilled to see she didn't have her feet over her head. She was also positioned head down, which may change a few times before she's born, but she's headed in the right direction. She surprised us when the ultrasound tech focused on her head. She turned to face us, and the ultrasound tech saw her face move and thought she smiled. Already mugging for the camera. The photos we have of her aren't that great. They're skeletal and ghostly. But it was nice of her to pose for us. She weighs exactly 2.5 pounds and is in the 50th percentile. At her last ultrasound she was in the 52nd percentile. As long as she stays on her growth curve, she'll be about 7 pounds when she's born. Hurray! Our next appointment is in two weeks, and our next ultrasound is in four weeks.

I am also doing well. Amniotic fluid levels are good and so is my blood pressure. I haven't gained any weight over the last three weeks. I've gained less than 10 pounds from my lowest first trimester weight, and 2.5 of that is all Elsie (not to mention placenta and extra fluids). I'm not exactly dieting. I just had a mini turtle pecan cluster blizzard from Dairy Queen to celebrate our good reports at the doctor. (I got a mini because I'm lactose intolerant and don't want to get sick and freak Elsie out again.) I'm intentionally eating more fruits and vegetables and getting more exercise, but it's because I enjoy fresh summer produce and swimming rather than because I'm trying to watch my weight. That's just a nice side effect. :) I've been eating a lot of caprese salad and snacking on snap peas and watermelon. The basil and snap peas are from my garden. The swimming pool is finally open at times I can get there. With my swimmer's snorkel, I don't have to worry about getting out of breath because I can breathe whenever I want. My breast stroke is getting quite graceful, which is pretty impressive considering my growing girth. Between the low-calorie fruits and veggies taking up room in my quickly shrinking stomach and getting to the pool up to four times a week in July, I'm not gaining weight. As long as Elsie is gaining weight, I'm going to keep on enjoying my veggies and swimming. I can always add an Icee, milkshake, or blizzard every once in a while if I need to. Anything for Elsie. :)

Elsie is pretty active, but I am rarely able to figure out why she is kicking. She kicks for the fun of it most of the time. I have noticed that she likes music. She kicks significantly more during singing at church, the musical we recently attended, and movies with rousing scores. She also kicks at things that touch my belly: my computer desk, the kitchen counter and sink (my arms are too short to wash dishes without resting my belly against the sink), and even my own arm. She believes it's HER belly, and I've been unable to convince her to share. She still gets excited when Matt talks to her and even kicked in his direction when he talked at my belly one time. However, she rarely kicks when Matt's hand is on my belly. One night when she wouldn't settle down, I had Matt put his hand on my belly, and I got a good 15 minutes of peace before she started kicking again. And she wasn't kicking as hard then. She also kicks when she's startled. The new Superman was incredibly scary for her because of all the explosions. I'm surprised my uterus wasn't bruised after that movie. And yesterday she got her first case of hiccups during the sermon at church. The kicks were too regular and jerky to be anything but hiccups.

We're all doing fine. I garden and swim and try out new veggie recipes. Elsie kicks. And Matt drives us to the doctor an awful lot. We expect the rest of the summer to keep going the same way.

Baby Veggies Everywhere

Baby Green Beans

Baby Summer Squash

Baby Zucchini

Baby Watermelon

Baby Cucumber

Baby Blueberry Bushes with newly acidified soil and new mulch

The Pea Haven (and me looking like Holly Hobbie)

Snap peas are thriving

Veggies in blocks and planters

Lots of green tomatoes

The Squash Ghetto beyond the tomatoes

CORN!

Growing Rutabagas

Normal Blood Sugar Quickly Lowers Blood Pressure

My day started with a stressful morning at work. And shortly after I got home, it was time to leave for our appointment. I was also concerned about my three-hour glucose test results. And then once we got to the doctor's office, we sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes before the nurse called us back. She told me the doctor would give me my test results and weighed me (no change in the last two weeks) and checked my blood pressure (140-something/80-something). The blood pressure was not good. Guessing that anticipation was not helping my blood pressure, I asked the nurse if she could just tell me my results. She checked my chart and told me I had nothing to worry about and to take a few deep breaths. She then rechecked my blood pressure, and it had dropped by about 10 points in a matter of minutes. It still wasn't a good number, but it was quickly headed in the right direction. Later in the evening, my blood pressure was checked two more times and was excellent. The nurse wasn't kidding about having nothing to worry about. The blood glucose test results weren't marginal; they were exceptionally good. I got to see the numbers and impressed myself.

We saw the nurse practitioner instead of one of the doctors. It was the first time we'd see her during this pregnancy. Matt later observed a difference between the men and women we've encountered in obstetrics: men are reassuring and opaque, while women are straight shooters who worry more about informing than reassuring. He's right. We got way more information from the nurse practitioner. We learned that because of history we are scheduled for growth-check ultrasounds every four to six weeks. We go back next Monday for one of those ultrasounds. Two and a half weeks ago, I was told we were starting to schedule appointments twice a month instead of once a month. With the upcoming ultrasound appointment, I'll have been to the office once a week for three weeks in a row. At 32 weeks we'll start weekly appointments and bio-physical profiles (BPPs - ultrasounds that check growth, movement, and baby's breathing practice). We've done tons of those. I just hope we don't have to do a non-stress test at the hospital. I don't think Elsie will like the fetal monitor any more than Neil did. (She's similarly territorial about things touching my abdomen.) And the last non-stress test we went to resulted in learning we had a dead baby. That sounds too stressful to be a non-stress test. 

We also learned that in the four years that the nurse practitioner has worked in this office there have been only four late-term perinatal deaths. Two happened to women who had uncontrolled diabetes, which could be expected to cause complications. That leaves two of us that had something completely unforeseen happen. Both of us had growth-restricted babies, but quite a few women have had growth-restricted babies that turned out fine. So we're kind of special in a not so good way around there. That does explain why everyone seems to know our names. And it makes me feel even more confident about the doctors we're seeing: they don't lose many babies. We just happen to be among the unlucky few.

After the appointment, we went to the hospital to get my Rho-gam shot. I'm at 27 weeks and have A- blood. The shot is supposed to keep my body from forming antibodies against positive blood. From what I understand, the current baby is fairly safe. But if Elsie's blood is positive and comes into contact with my negative blood through anything but the placenta (due to an accident or during delivery), then I will form and carry around antibodies that would attack and kill any future babies with positive blood types. That's not something to fool around with, so we stuck around and did it even though it would make our day longer. We didn't remember from last time how much longer. First, I had to get blood drawn so that they knew exactly which type of Rho-gam to give me. The blood work takes a couple hours to process. Then they shoot a blood product into my buttock and make me wait around a while longer to make sure I don't have a bad reaction. No reaction. I'm glad that's over. I get another after delivery, but the waiting around is less noticeable then.

While we were waiting for the blood work to be run, we went out to eat at the Italian restaurant. That was a nice treat after such a long and stressful day. Unfortunately, I didn't consider how much dairy I had consumed today. Upon reflection, salad with cheese and (pasteurized) blue cheese dressing was not a good prelude to the lasagna. I might have been OK with just the lasagna, but I'm sure the salad did me in. And by "did me in" I mean caused full-on evil poop. And it freaked Elsie out. So in addition to spasming intestines, I had frantic rolling and kicking in my uterus. Oh Lord! It was awful. I felt bad for her. I'm sure she was surrounded by strange sensations and sounds, but it was really bad for me. I kept rubbing my belly and reassuring her it was OK. Eventually, she calmed down. I'm a little afraid she's going to associate trauma with lasagna (which she enjoyed while I was eating it). I told Matt I might be better off if I associated trauma with lasagna. It might save me from myself and my love of cheese.

So it was a long day and not without minor traumas, but overall it was a good day. We got good news about test results, ate yummy food, and took care of some necessary preventative care. And because of the good glucose test results, I had no concern about ordering tiramisu to go. :)