Dr. Appointment

Yesterday we went to another doctor appointment. They're coming around quickly these days!

Here are the stats:
Weight: Gained 1lb. Total of 25lbs.
Uterus: 33-34cms
Blood pressure: 119/82
Caleb's heart rate: 130bpm

You might notice that the uterus measurement is actually smaller than last week's, and that we certainly aren't keeping up with the cm/week average. (It should be measuring at 37-38cms this week.) That could be for two reasons. First, a 4th-year med student did the measuring this week, so maybe she just picked the wrong spot. Or second, maybe Caleb isn't growing like he should be, though everything else seems fine, and he's still kicking and moving around, which is a good sign. To check on things, Dr. K scheduled yet another sonogram for next week! I agree with Leanna that Caleb's going to have quite a photo album going before he's even born! Though last time they didn't give us any pictures. Hmph. Dr. K is not really concerned, and said she would only become so if I stopped feeling Caleb move around. So I'll keep a watch on that this week, but I don't see him slowing down any time soon!

I have had a cold for about a week, and the cold medicine I've been taking (approved Tylenol brand) seems to have caused my heart to do something weird--race, work harder, I don't know exactly how to describe it. So, I stopped taking it. Dr. K said I was correct that it was probably my cold medicine, but that I could still continue taking it if I needed it, that it wouldn't hurt me or Caleb. So that's good. The better news is that I'm feeling much better today, so I probably won't take it anyway. She also said I could use pretty much any cough medicine but Nyquil, which I thought was interesting. And my trusty Vicks was also fine for use.

Something I forgot to mention last week is that I had a test for Group B Strep. If it was present (and it is in 30% of women), then I would have to be on an IV antibiotic during labor/delivery so as not to pass it to Caleb. The test results came back negative this week, so we're good to go!

Dr. K checked again for dilation and effacement, and again, no change! She said he's just waiting for her to get back in town before he comes! However, she did think he'd dropped a little, because this week she could feel him a little, whereas last week she didn't feel him at all. And yeah, a little odd that my doctor can feel a baby inside of me. I know there is one, but still...weird when you think about it!

Because it looks like Caleb's going to take his time, and I'd really like to avoid medical induction, I asked Dr. K about maternity/labor acupressure that naturally induces labor. She said it was fine to try--she didn't know of a whole lot of people who have done it, so she couldn't attest to its effectiveness, but that it certainly wouldn't hurt. She did say someone used hypnosis: it didn't work very well with her first baby, but worked like a charm with her second. So you never know! I figure I should probably get out and start walking to encourage Caleb to drop a little more, and then--at the point when the doctor would recommend medical induction--I'll try the acupressure. The main thing for me is to stop thinking about the convenience of a certain date, or the inconvenience of a baby born on Thanksgiving, or whatever, and realize that Caleb will come when he comes! There's no reason for me to try to plan it.

We set up a few more appointments. Dr. K will be gone on the 17th, so we'll be meeting with Dr. P, which is good, because she might just be the on-call dr. when Caleb comes, so it'll be good to meet her. Then we set up an appointment for when Dr. K gets back--Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving--to check in with her if this baby still hasn't come. If he comes sooner, we'll cancel that appointment.

And we'll be parents!!