Dr. Appointment

On Monday, Jon and I went to our latest Dr. appointment. This was the appointment where they test me for gestational diabetes, so 30 minutes before, I had to drink this orange syrupy stuff. I'd heard horror stories about it, so I poured it into a cup with a little uncertainty. I decided that chugging it would be the best way to get it over and done with, but after my first huge gulp, I realized it basically tasted like flat orange soda. So, no, not the greatest, but not horrible, either, so that wasn't bad.

The stats are always the first thing at these appointments, so here they are:
My weight: gained less than half a pound! Total weight gain of 10 pounds.
My uterus length: 27 t0 28 cms. The number of centimeters should correspond with how many weeks along I am (which was 27.5), so we're just fine there.
My blood pressure: 99/66
Caleb's Heart rate: 143 bpm

So all that looks good! The nurse took two little vials of blood for the glucose test. That didn't go so great, because my vein wasn't giving up its blood very willingly. By the time the tourniquet came off, I couldn't feel my fingers very well, but at least it was done. But then they remembered I needed more blood taken because I'm Rh negative, so another tube from the other arm. That one went much better, and I was thankful that I don't have a huge problem with needles. I also got my Rhogam shot, again because I'm Rh negative.

So what exactly is Rh negative? Well, if you know your blood type, and if it has a "-" on the end (as in O-, like me), you're Rh negative! It's not as common as positive, which has two affects. First, you're on everyone's list to call when there's a blood drive, and second, if your baby is born positive (which is likely if your spouse, like mine, is positive), there's a possibility that your body will see any future positive babies as "foreign bodies" and miscarry.

So, if Caleb is positive, nothing will happen to him, but, at the point of his birth, it's possible that his blood and mine could get mixed, at which point, my blood will start forming antibodies to his positive blood. The next time my blood comes in contact with positive blood (at the next baby, perhaps), there would already be antibodies there to "fight the intruder." That is obviously not what we want, so I get a shot now, and if Caleb's blood is positive, I get another shot after his birth. If he has a negative blood type, then no worries for now, but we'll go through the same process for the next baby. Thankfully, modern science has it all figured out, so there's really nothing to worry about, and a couple shots is a minor inconvenience compared to not doing it!

The nurse joked with Jon and I about how I should have picked a negative person for my spouse, and how, when we have a little girl (if she's negative as well), we'll have to tell her, "Pick a negative man, but ONLY in blood type!"

Let's see...other than that we just had a few questions for the doctor. She said she would allow a video camera for the whole delivery, but the nurse may not, so we'll have to see. Basically, I want to get a few shots of the actual pushing ("I really did it!") and then shut the camera off until Caleb's there to steal the show!

The dr. also said that I could hold Caleb before they do all the cleaning and eye drops and all that, and she explained how they'd hand me a warm towel to receive him, I'd rub him down really well, and then hold him next to me with a warm blanket on top. Most babies are swept into the warmer, where they get rubbed down, measured, drops in eyes, and hat on head, which is not bad, but I'd like to do this as a science experiment, really. (I know, my poor kid is subject to my experiments straight out of the oven.) My mom had sent me information about something called the breast crawl, and I want to see if it happens. If it does, I think that would be totally cool. There is a site you can go look at for more information, but I'll warn you, it's all about nursing, so you can decide for yourself if you want to see it. It starts out with a bang right on the front page, so don't even click the link if you're not interested.

And that was my appointment! If the glucose test comes out unusual, I should know by tomorrow, and then I'd have to go in for more in-depth testing. Other than that, I go back in three weeks.