38 Weeks

Christopher was able to go to this appointment since he just happened to be off work that day.

When we got there, I noticed the lights in my doctor's exam rooms were all off. That's a bad sign, meaning he's not there.

When I came back out from giving the standard urine sample, (gotta love peeing in a cup 9 months pregnant but that's another story) the receptionist told me that my OB was in surgery and would not be back that morning.

We ended up waiting about an hour and a half when the ultrasound tech called us back instead of a nurse. I was surprised since we just had a scan the week before. The ultrasound tech told us that since the midwife was running so far behind, that she would do a scan to get the baby's heart rate. Who could turn down a free ultrasound?

She got a healthy heart rate of 133 bpm. She confirmed that the baby was still head down and showed us a the baby's face. She showed us his abdomen was moving in and out which is how he was practicing his breathing.

Then she moved the wand up by my ribs and found his little foot. It was so cute on the screen. That's what has been kicking me in the ribs! He also had his hand down there too like he'd been grabbing his foot.

The first picture is a profile of his foot, toes pointing to the right.

The second picture is the bottom of his foot, you can see all 5 toes.

We finally got to see the midwife a little later. She confirmed that I was still at 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced. The baby is still at -3 station. She said that's a great place to be at 38 weeks.

So we wait for Patches to pick his birthday!

OB said, "Wow!" 37 week appointment

I had a couple of minor scares today at the OB. First he had trouble finding the HB. I figured the baby was just in a weird spot because I felt him do a funny roll on the way to the appointment. He felt like he was up in my stomach all morning.

And then it's never a good thing if your doctor says, "Wow" during an internal exam. And that's all he said! I'm sure my eyes got huge because the nurse patted my arm.

Finally he said that he couldn't tell the baby's position. The doctor couldn't tell if he was feeling Patches' head or his bottom. And then he said that the baby was measuring BIG!

I was pretty much speechless, trying to process the possible change. The nurse was great at reassuring me. She remembers the previous miscarriages and knows all the worries that are automatically built in with this pregnancy.

I had to wait 30 minutes for an ultrasound. I tried to read in the waiting room but who can concentrate when you might be scheduling a c-section next. The tech put the wand on my lower belly and said, "IT'S A HEAD!" The baby is thankfully head down but he's all stretched out and floating up high. I guess that's why the doctor said he was big with just the fundal measurement on my belly.

I also have a lot of amniotic fluid, supposedly high normal. I'm not going to go down that google path since it can mean there's a problem. I don't want to know all the negatives at this point. I'll just go with what the u/s tech said, more is better than too little and it was just on the high end of normal.

He's measuring two days behind my EDD so he's not really big at all. She estimated his weight at 6 lbs 5 oz which is in the 50% percentile. Normal, Dr. S! Normal! Since the baby is supposed to gain a 1/2 lb a week, she guessed he would be 7.5 to 8 pounds at birth.

She printed out a picture for us. The baby kept yawning over and over. You could see his little mouth open and close. I guess we were disturbing his sleep with all the commotion. He also has a full head of hair. According to the tech, it's a lot of hair! Daddy might be jealous. ;)


She did kind of goof up by asking me what my other babies weighed at birth. I guess she saw this was my 3rd pregnancy but didn't catch the miscarriage part of my chart.

It's still hard to believe we could have a real baby here soon. And he's head down and measuring normally! Now if he'd just engage and give mom a chance to breathe.

36 week: 1 Down, 9 To Go!

I had my weekly appointment today. While I was getting prepped (BP and weight check) the nurse said she felt sorry for me because I was getting my first internal check. She made it sound awful! LOL

The midwife took off her ring before putting on her gloves. I knew she was serious about this! She warned me that I would feel the pressure of the back of her hand and then she would turn her hand to check the dilation.

She coached me into postion, no more stirrups. I had to put my feet flat on the table extension. She said this is how I'll be checked during labor.

That first part wasn't really bad at all. The only thing that was uncomfortable was when she started pushing on Patches to determine what station he was at. I swear she pushed on his bottom and shoved him towards the exit like she was trying to get him out today!

I'm offically 1 cm dilated. Woo-hoo.

*Only* 9 cm more to go! That's how I'm looking at it. At least it was some progress.



My cervix is 50% effaced and posterior. The baby hasn't really dropped yet into my pelvis. He's at -3 station so that's pretty high up there.



The internal wasn't painful but I did start bleeding immediately. She said I handled the internal exam very well. It's all about relaxing and breathing. Even when it feels like she's reaching up to touch my lungs.

I'm glad my OB and midwife have small hands. ;)

35 week appointment

Christopher just happened to be off work today because work was slow so he was able to go with me. It was nice because he hasn't been able to go with me since May.

They tried to get me to see the midwife because my OB was running behind. We decided to stick it out since I'm getting closer to delivering. I had just found out last month that the midwife no longer delivers babies!

I found out that I'm GBS positive so I'll definitely be toting an IV pole around with me during labor. My OB said they like for patients to recieve two doses of the antibiotics prior to delivery. He didn't think that would be a problem since I'm a first time mom.

But I still don't want to head for the hospital too early.

I've been so worried that the baby was going to breech or transverse since that's how he preferred to hang out. He'd settled down a little bit though. I've been trying to figure out what the movements mean and what the hard places are in my belly. I've been doing all these pelvic rocks and yoga poses that are supposed to help the baby get in the best postion. I've even been playing lullaby music on my ipod speakers down by my pelvic to draw him down. Last week, when I played the music for him for the first time, I felt a huge movement/roll as he moved toward the sound.


Today the doctor felt my belly very quickly, like just in two places after measuring and using the doppler. I asked him if he could feel the baby's position.

"Oh, yeah. He's head down, with his back along your left. Here's an arm and here's a leg."



I was so relieved! I think the music helped.
Hopefully Patches stays pointed towards the exit.

My BP and urine were okay which is always good news. I'm up 17 lbs for the pregnancy. I now go for weekly appointments. My first internal exam is next week.

At least the OB warned me.

Car Seat Inspection

We got our car seat inspected over the weekend. The hospital does it monthly by appointment, free of charge.

We were supposed to show up to the inspection with it installed and the car seat direction book. So last minute, Christopher and I tried putting it in the night before.

We couldn't use the latch system in the middle because the anchor points were too far apart according to the directions. We read that AFTER trying for several minutes to get it tightened up enough.

The next option was to use the seat belt to latch the base in. However we couldn't find the locking bar necessary to use with our seat belt. It was supposed to be included with the car seat.

So Chris got it installed on the passenger side back seat. He did an awesome job getting it tight enough. We really wanted it to be in the center for safety but didn't know how to over come the seat belt problem.

When we got to the hospital, the women doing the inspection congratulated Christopher for getting the car seat installed correctly! Yay, we passed.

She then asked us if we wanted to try it installed in the center. We told her the problem with the anchor latches and that we couldn't find the latch bar to work with the seat belt. She quickly flipped the seat over and showed us where the manufacter's had hid the latch bar. Viola!

So she and Christopher got it secured in the middle with the seat belt locking it in tight. This pretty much requires two people to do it since our seat belt doesn't lock in place on its own. Chris said that base isn't getting moved for a long time!



Here we tested it out.




It's kind of strange to see the car seat whenever I turn around to back up. I can't wait until our little guy is here to get his first ride home.

Baby Care, Paper T Shirts, and BF in the OR!

We had our baby care class today. The first part we watched a video and slide presentation. The video showed the parents right after delivery with baby being held skin to skin and being breast fed. I had to hold back tears! Darn pregnancy hormones.

Then she showed slide pics of an actual circumsion which was a little painful to see. My hospital doesn't use any local anesthesia for circs! They only give the babies 2 teaspoons of sugar water to help cope with the pain. WTH?

Then we played with some baby dolls, washing and diapering them! That part was fun in a weird way. We got lucky and scored a boy baby doll so we could practice cleaning him up correctly.


Our practice baby!

We got to see the paper t shirts that they give the babies to wear in my hospital. I kept picturing the thin white paper like what they use to line examination tables. This was actually heavier paper, kind of like the stuff they use for expensive paper napkins. It had a small piece of velcro to hold it closed.



Christopher holding the baby doll. The paper t shirt is blue and pink.


The nurse said that they want parents to bring in their own clothing for the baby so he will get used to what you'll be putting him in at home. That kind of makes sense. The paper shirt they provide is for immediately after birth when the umbilicial cord stump has iodine on it. I guess it's triple staining or something.

She was also a lactation consultant and told us that if we had her as a nurse for a c-section delivery, then she would do everything possible to get the baby skin to skin with you while in the OR and even attempt some breast feeding there. I was very shocked at that!

Without saying it, she let us know that not all others nurses would try it. But it's still pretty amazing that it's even a possiblity. Of course you might be so out of it after the c-section that it's impossible.

A Baby Shower...

for us! It's hard to believe it's really time for our own baby shower. A special day to celebrate this baby boy.




Today when we woke up, Patches was kicking me like normal. I usually tell Christopher about it so he can get a quick feel while we're both right together.
Chris put his hand on my belly and shook it just a little saying hello. Then right as he placed his hand flat on the sweet spot, Patches gave one of his power kicks! (We're talking the kind that can move the remote control or whatever is resting on my tummy.) Chris pulls his hand back in surprise, saying "Wow, what do those feel like on the inside?!"

They feel awesome.

It was like Patches was telling us to come on, get up already! It's his big day, pre-birthday. We have things to do! It's baby shower time.


My sister in law, Caroline has been so supportive of us during the past year. She hosted the baby shower at her house. It was beautifully decorated and everything I could have dreamed for.

Christopher, Tracy, and Patches

Some of the party ballons.

This cute little guy was one of the ballon weights.

Some of the favors around the cake.

This cake was beautifully decorated as a baby carriage. It was a vanilla cake with a creme layer. The two wheels were chocolate cupcakes. "A Baby Is A Precious Gift"


Sister in law, Caroline with the beautiful cake. Her mom, Mrs. Ernst is looking on in the background.

We played some really fun games. The guys even enjoyed participating.

We were shown this tray for one minute. Then we had to write down all the items that we could remember. My friend, Bonnie won this one easily!

Then we played a baby word scramble game. Again Bonnie put most of us to shame. I think her youth helped her. My pregnancy induced attention deficient disorder gave me serious trouble! Who knew "rodeomothh" was motherhood and "unserry hemry" was nursery rhyme?

Bonnie, again a winner. This time of "Guess How Big the Momma To Be's Belly Is." The object was to cut a piece of yarn just long enough to wrap around my stomach at the biggest point. I dreaded this game a little since it basically makes fun of how big I am! But it turned out fun to play. Christopher (thank you, honey!) and the twin 6 year olds, Amber and Zachary were the closest after Bonnie. Everyone else had miles of extra yarn! Apparently I do look THAT big. :)

Christopher helping the twins, Amber and Zachary measuring and cutting their yarn.




Debbie, the official winner of the "Find The Baby Pin Game." There were 80 baby pins inside the bowl covered with uncooked rice. The object was to find as many pins as possible during one minute. It was a lot harder than what it looked like because the rice was bigger than the small pins. Debbie shifted through and found four. I found NONE!

Mrs. Ernst who finished second place after a tie breaker.

My mother in law, Margaret, playing the game.

My other sister in law, Alice.

Brother in law Steve who thought he had a plan to win.

Christopher finding two pins and managing to spill rice all over the floor!

Chef Christopher with his yummy lasagne! I know he won't let us starve after the baby is born.

We had lots of good food and good times. It was the perfect baby shower! I'm going to blame it on pregnancy hormones, but when I think back over the evening I start to cry. We enjoyed ourselves so much.

Thank you, Caroline for hosting it. And thank you to all those that came and for all the gifts we received. Patches is one lucky boy.