Week 35 Appointment: I'm not the person most tired of my being pregnant?!?

Weight: No change. I'm not sure how. I weighed myself at home the other day and had gained 3.8 pounds in two days! I've since lost two of those pounds, but it was a shock to see on the bathroom scales.

BP: 114/70 Fantastic!

Ultrasound
Heart rate and fluid are within normal parameters. Elsie breathes like a pro. Despite saving the last of my Wendy's frosty for the ultrasound, Elsie wasn't interested in moving. She wiggled and kicked the whole way to the doctor's office and wore herself out before the ultrasound. She moved her arm a little (her hand was resting on her chest) and waved her fingers at us. She did so little cuteness that we didn't get any pictures of her today. But she passed the BPP, which is the important part. We also saw more hair on her head. I'm not sure how long it is, but it is definitely there. Next week we measure growth.

Doctor's Visit
At 35 weeks there's a pelvic exam and cultures to see what diseases I've picked up and might pass on during delivery. Last time my urine had strep. I hope it didn't go out and get strep again this time, too. He checked my cervix and said, "We'll call that a 2," so I'm not "Fort Knox" again this time. I had forgotten how much I hate having my cervix checked. Anyone who can figure out a gadget or method to check it painlessly should win prestigious prizes, lots of money, and the undying gratitude of all women for all eternity.

The doctor was pleased with our progress. Matt and I can't remember exactly what he said, but the gist of it was that he's OK if she comes at any time. I told him I had told Elsie she needs to wait until September. "Why?" he asked. That part I can quote. I told him I thought it would be good for her to be less premature or not at all premature (37 weeks). He didn't seem concerned about her being premature. He seems ready for me to have this baby alive as soon as possible. I'm feeling OK and am OK with her maturing a little more if she needs to, but he wants this baby ASAP. So it seems we're all set to go whenever she decides to arrive. And if she doesn't arrive by week 39, I feel certain he'll induce.

Elsie is doing great. I get busy and have to remind myself to sit down and rest so that she can play. We take turns being active. She kept me from napping on Saturday because she was kicking and wiggling and rolling for about an hour. So Sunday, I told her she needed to let me nap and shushed her. Seconds after I woke up, she kicked me, and I patted my tummy to acknowledge her. And she went nuts. It was obviously a "HURRAY! MOMMY IS AWAKE! LET'S PLAY!" moment. So I moved to the recliner, and she played for at least half an hour. I wondered how many times she had tried test kicks to see if I was awake before I finally woke up and patted her back.

I think I've got the nursery almost ready, but I'll save that for another post.

Week 34 Appointment: What a Multi-Tasker

Another week, another appointment. Elsie passed her BPP again. She didn't show off her breathing as quickly, but she eventually did it. I'm considering eating lunch in the waiting room; she was kicking and rolling while I was eating in the car on the way to the appointment, so she was sleepy again during the ultrasound. She's cute when she's sleepy, but it would be good for her to be lively so that the ultrasound tech wouldn't have to poke us. Elsie yawned for us again. And she sucked one fist. Her other hand was playing with her toes, which were near her head again. I told Matt that sucking a fist while playing with one's toes is the fetal equivalent of walking and chewing gum at the same time, so she's coordinated.

The rest of the appointment was uneventful. I've gained some weight and had great blood pressure. We saw the nurse practitioner because the doctor had had multiple c-sections and deliveries today and was running behind schedule. The nurse practitioner measured my belly and said we're having a big baby. She asked each of us how tall we are and was surprised that I'm only 5'2". I pointed out that I'm always sitting down when she sees me. I also pointed out that I have a short torso, so even an average baby is going to take up a huge portion of my abdomen. She agreed. I don't mind if Elsie is big. I just don't want anyone to become concerned about her being too big if there's a reasonable explanation for why my belly is so big. The nurse practitioner did say that ultrasounds are more accurate than belly size. In two more weeks we'll check her size again and have a better idea of how big she is.

The doctor arrived as we were leaving and stopped us. He seemed disappointed that he didn't get to see us; we are special. :) He reminded us that we're not going past 40 weeks and that we need to come in if Elsie isn't moving regularly. We're told both things at every appointment. Everything has gone so well so far, that no new news is good news.

Week 33 Appointment: She'a Cute Little Sucker

We started with another BPP. Most of the BPP is watching for movement and for fetal breathing. There's a time limit during which a baby must move a certain number of times and show a total of 30 seconds of fetal breathing. Elsie breathed almost continually for the first minute we watched her. She's a pro. With that out of the way, we just needed to see her move. The ultrasound tech, Jenny, poked her a little to see if she'd wiggle or kick, but she didn't. So Jenny focused on her head and face. That turned out to be where the action was today. She was sucking her thumb, and that counts as movement. Jenny said that people often think their babies are sucking thumbs when they're actually sucking fists but that because we could see four fingers out of the mouth, which was sucking on something, Elsie really was sucking her thumb. She sucked her fist some, too, each of them; she's an ambidextrous fist sucker.  I was happy to see that Elsie has mastered the two skills she'll need most after being born: breathing and sucking. And she rubbed her face a little. And she yawned deep, cavernous yawns followed by sticking her tongue out and smacking her lips. She yawned and smacked several times. Because she showed off her breathing so quickly, we had plenty of time to watch her yawn. I think Jenny enjoyed watching her. Not all of Jenny's ultrasounds are so pleasant, so I'm sure she has no problem taking some time with the fun ones. She also checked amniotic fluid levels, which were within normal parameters this week. We didn't find out anything about her weight because they're only checking growth every four weeks. We did finally get a reasonable facial profile picture, and for once we didn't get a picture of her genitals. We think it's a good precedent to take pictures of her face and not of her genitals.

After checking my weight (up a pound) and blood pressure (normal), the nurse sent us into an exam room to see Dr. Ackermann. After greeting us, he looked at my chart and said, "Everything looks perfect." And then he started giggling. He said he couldn't ask for anything to be better. He then felt my abdomen for a second or two, asked if she's moving a lot (she is), asked if we had any questions (we didn't), and said everything is going great. We think he doesn't get many good news cases either (lots of poverty, smoking, and obesity in Kentucky), so we were happy that he was so happy. As we were getting into the car, I said to Matt, "We just made our OB giggle." And the doctor didn't even get to see Elsie yawn, stick her tongue out, or smack her lips. Now that was giggle-worthy.

Guess who likes back rubs

If you guessed me, then you're right. But that wouldn't be worth blogging about unless I got a massage, and I didn't. I'm not sure who around here even does prenatal massage. I've never had an real massage, but just having my back rubbed makes me drool and eventually pass out.

If you guessed Elsie, you are also right. For some time she has occasionally surfaced forcefully enough to cause a large, hard bulge on my upper belly, approximately where her back and bottom are. When she's done this in the past, I've rubbed my belly, and she's immediately wiggled into a different, less painful position. But recently she has gotten into that position and stayed there for minutes at a time while I rub the bulge on my belly. I have thought of only two reasons for her to do so. First, perhaps she likes having her back rubbed. Second, perhaps she's obstinate and refuses to move no matter how much I rub my belly. It's times like these that I consider whose child she is when interpreting her actions. :) I've decided she's mine this time. I must say I find the idea of rubbing my daughter's back delightful. She seems to enjoy it, too. She's done it three or four times today.

She's become much more responsive and interactive lately. In addition to the rubbing and shushing to calm her at night and the back rubs when she surfaces, she has also played pat-pat with me a time or two. We played for several minutes while I was at work the other day. I pat-pat-pat my belly, she answers with two taps, and we continue that until she loses interest. Next we'll teach her Morse code so I can blog her dispatches from the womb. :)

Growing Daily (or Hourly)

Yesterday evening as I was getting dressed to go to Game Night, I looked at my belly and said (aloud), "I think I'm bigger than I was before my nap." I shrugged it off as excess gas (of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon proportions?) from a lunch of pulled pork and broccoli salad. (1-Yes, Campbellsville finally got a good barbecue restaurant: good meat and good sauce. Hurray!  2- My side of the family frequently has unfortunate digestive responses to broccoli.) But after Game Night last night, Matt and I were passing each other in our admittedly narrow bathroom, and he bumped into me and fortunately caught and steadied me while saying something to the effect of "I didn't expect you to be so big." It probably wasn't gas then.

I expect to gain weight more quickly this month partially because the pool is closed for repairs before school starts. As soon as it opens in September, I will be there. I've considered trying some gentle yoga and light hand-weight lifting as guided by a prenatal exercise DVD I have. The weight lifting could be good to strengthen my upper body for repeatedly lifting a baby without causing back pain.

I've also been gardening a bit less, my other source of exercise. I've felt hot or tired or unwilling to tempt the mosquitoes at times of day that aren't hot. I'm keeping up with harvesting and watering with Miracle-Gro once a week, but the weeds are also getting Miracle-Gro, and I haven't felt like taking the time to pull them. Fortunately, because everything is in containers, most of the weeds aren't actually threatening the veggies. I did replant snap peas, summer squash, zucchini, and turnips for a fall harvest. They probably won't get much attention, but the produce will be nice.

I have gained some weight this week, but I don't feel heavier so much as voluminous. I'm thankful that, other than feeling expansive, I feel good. I have to slow down and catch my breath when I walk sometimes, but I think it's a good sign that my body thinks I can move fast and has to be checked by my diminishing lung capacity. I haven't really had any swelling yet. The stretch marks aren't too crazy yet. I've been using a cream at night to try to keep my belly hydrated and potentially limit stressful skin stretching. With the stretch marks I had coming into this pregnancy, I've been a little worried that stretch marks are like runs in pantyhose (they look alike) and will just continue running both upward and downward from my belly. I get mental images of stretch marks that run from my chin to my toes. Unlikely, I know, but I have a vivid imagination. I didn't have to go to the chiropractor after all last week. I was finally able to get my lower back to pop just once, and that was enough. I haven't had any sciatica pain. The heartburn is manageable with Tums. I'm sleeping well. I still get up only once a night to go to the bathroom. And Elsie mostly behaves herself at night and calms pretty quickly when I rub my belly and shush her. We're doing really well actually.

I'm also thankful that it has taken this long to feel big. We're already only 4.5 weeks from no longer premature and 7.5 weeks from due date.

Car Seats Expire!?!?

I found out from my sister Kristin that car seats expire! Fortunately, ours has two more years before it expires. But I was surprised that non-dairy car seats have expiration dates. Also on Kristin's advice, I looked for some sort of tag on our crib that might tell me the make and model so that I could check to see if it's been recalled. There were no tags on it, but there were instructions for dropping the sides. Oh dear! Even I know that drop sides are considered a no-no. So we will need a new crib. We don't necessarily have to get rid of the current crib: it converts to a toddler bed and could still be useful in a couple years. By then I may be leary of a 12-year-old toddler bed, but for now I'm OK with it. We don't plan to use a crib right away, so we have time to get one. If we had needed a new car seat, I would have been more anxious and irritated. That's something needed immediately. I also checked to make sure our bassinet hasn't been recalled, and it hasn't. I'd really like to to prevent the nursery from being a death trap. If she survives the death trap of my uterus, I'd hate for a crib to do her in. Most of the time I feel pretty calm about my (in)ability to protect her, but learning about all the nursery items that have to be vetted makes me feel like the world is out to get her. I mean, cute Winnie the Pooh pillows are as lethal as letting her play with knives! I'm sure the paranoia will pass and return and pass again many times. I have a feeling that's not an uncommon part of parenting.

My Hemoglobin Rocks!

The post-M&M hemoglobin test came back normal. Hurray!

Week 32 Appointment: Nostril Shots and Ill-Timed M&Ms

We started our appointment with an ultrasound to measure growth and do the BPP. Elsie is measuring 4 lbs., 1 oz., which is the 53rd percentile. Dr. Reynolds thinks she's bigger than that because her short femurs are dragging down her other numbers. Her head is in the 90s and her abdomen is in the 60s percent-wise. Neil also had short femurs and a big head on ultrasound and came out bigger than expected from the ultrasounds, so Dr. Reynolds assessment makes sense. It's so good for Dr. Reynolds to make sense occasionally. :) Elsie's heart rate was 162. And though it took a little while to show off her breathing skills, she passed the BPP. She moved around a bit, got more compliments on her beautiful spine, and had pictures taken of her genitals (always!) and nose. The nose shot looks up her nostril. It looks like the kind of picture you'd accidentally take when trying out a new device. I hope to sometime see a good profile of her entire face, but she keeps facing the camera, which makes her eye sockets look empty and alien. She is still positioned head-down and had a full bladder again.

Dr. Reynolds was impressed that my blood pressure was still excellent and I've only gained 10 pounds during the whole pregnancy so far. The fluid levels on the ultrasound were a tiny bit above normal, which can be a symptom of diabetes. So despite fantastic scores on the 4-hour blood glucose test, he ordered a blood draw for a hemoglobin test right after our appointment. Unfortunately, I had just eaten peanut M&Ms in the waiting room right before seeing him, and I told him so. He still wanted me to take the test, so I did. I would not be surprised if the hemoglobin test doesn't come back great. Dr. Reynolds is really looking for something to be wrong. It's kind of irritating, but I can't fault him for being super-cautious, even if extreme caution doesn't guarantee desired results.

The third trimester symptoms have started to hit me recently. I had some pretty bad heartburn last night that caused pain in my shoulder. A couple of Tums and Tylenol fixed it enough so that I could sleep. I've also started spending more time in the recliner. Every night when I wake up to go to the bathroom, I go to the recliner instead of going back to bed. It's so much easier to get into the recliner than to heave myself onto our four-poster bed, and getting comfortable in the recliner is easier than rearranging all the pillows that prop me up in bed. I don't think Matt minds. We have a full size bed, and my pillows and I take up quite a bit of room. When I go to the recliner, he gets the whole bed to himself. I've also currently got a lower back problem that I would describe as a "hitch in my get-along." Something in my bottom-most vertebrae is jammed and causing discomfort in my left leg. The discomfort is significant enough that it affects how I walk which is starting to mess with my knee and ankle. I'm going to stop by the chiropractor's office on the way to work tomorrow. Adjustments don't take long with me, and I need to get that fixed before it hurts other parts of my body. In addition, I've been taking remarkable naps some days. I sleep for more than 3 hours and then need another hour to fully wake up. That's not like me at all. I always pop up like bread in a toaster when I wake up, no matter what time of day, so this grogginess is very unusual. Other than that, I'm doing pretty good, occasionally tired, weepy, or hungry and frequently urinating, but that's to be expected.