Doctor Visits and Pictures (part 1 of 3 entries today!)

Oh where to begin! Perhaps by saying this will be a 3 parter so be sure to read on after this post for the rest of them. Preview: Nursery pictures! And close to the car story as well as pics of Granddaddy-to-be's new bike!

I have been to the doctor twice since I last blogged. Last week we saw the ‘new guy’ again. He is so nice! But so young! We found out from the regular doc this week, just as we had suspected, that he is fresh out of residency. Kind of nice to know he’s got the schooling so fresh in his brain. I would be happy to be delivered by either him or my regular doc.

At the appointment last week, we had a couple major occurrences. 2 big tests that get done at that stage of 36 weeks. The first was the GBS or Group B Strep test. Strep is a normal flora that lives in and on us all and is what is called ‘opportunistic.’ In other words, if it gets in the wrong place it can make you sick, but in the right places it works with your body. About one third of women have it living normally in their vagina and/or their lower intestine. Which is fine for them. It is not fine however for a completely sterile baby who hasn’t been exposed to any microbiata the whole time in utero and can cause some serious illnesses if the baby passes through a birth canal laden with Group B strep, like meningitis! Fortunately, there is an easy fix of simple IV antibiotics during labor which takes care of most cases. And although it is fairly rare, it is something all pregnant women are tested for because it is so easy to fix.

The other test was an extensive urine test. I get to pee in a cup every time I go and they check protein levels to make sure I am not getting the toxemia, but his one had to be sent off to a lab. Fortunately I am pregnant so I can pee 3 times in one hour easily so going twice in one visit wasn’t hard. I am not sure what all they did for this test. I know they checked for some kind of growth.

I was a little nervous going to the doc yesterday with such looming test results hanging over my head. I had the ‘what if’s’ big time! I blame it on being pregnant. I am usually pretty mellow though I am still feminine and have a greater tendency to worry myself than Andy does. And as much as Andy reassured me everything would be fine, I didn’t breathe the sigh of relief until the nurse told me all results were normal and good!

Another bit of good news has been my weight and blood pressure. This is a time in pregnancy where a lot of women get an elevated BP but mine has stayed low about 100/70 and my weight has almost leveled off. I gained only one pound in the last week. I am officially 165, exactly 40 pounds of weight gained and that was exactly what I was told I’d need to gain because my starting BMI was slightly below normal. So I may go over that a few pounds but not by much.

The other good news is the doc wanted to get another sonogram measurement of the little guy since he measured so big at 31 weeks. I love any opportunity to see him on the screen and be reassured that yes, it’s a boy (saw his testicles again!), and yes, he passes all sono checks. So the tech did all the measurements again and although it can be off by a pound or so at this late stage, she had him weigh in at 6.6. So in 3 weeks, on his actual due date, he should weigh about 7.5-8 pounds! I must confess as strange as this sounds that I do want a big baby. Not a 10 pounder or anything but a good solid 8+. I just feel they are healthier. And aren’t so scary tiny! But if he’s just under 8 that’d be great too. Now we just have to see if we make these last 3 weeks. He could really come at any time! Though don’t worry, I am not having any signs of early labor yet, at all!

The doc seemed to think the chances are greater that he’ll be late. In most first pregnancies they are. I agree. He hasn’t switched positions in months and I get the feeling he is real comfy in there! Though he will start running out of more room soon enough and maybe that’ll inspire him to look further!

I also get the feeling we’ll have a pretty mellow baby. He’s not a kicker. He does wiggle a lot when he wiggles and there’s been times when I am reading to him at night, it feels like he’s trying to come out and meet me right then! But for the most part he’s not too rambunctious. I also think he’s shy. I always want other people to feel him move around in there. It’s such a wonderful feeling I want to share it with everybody! But he so rarely does it when we are around other people. My mom, Andy’s mom, Tressie, our friends, Andy’s brothers, I want everyone to feel him and I don’t think anyone has! My friend Tammy got to feel him hiccupping once. My mom has felt a limb once I think but no real roll-arounds. Then as soon as we get in the car to leave the people we were just with, there he goes dancing away for just his mommy and daddy! Andy says he’s like the singing frog from the old cartoons that would only sing for the one guy and every time he tried to show someone else it would just go, “rib-bit.” We may have a shy guy on our hands!

So far he seems to be like us then, shy, awake at night, and pretty mellow. Now we’ll just have to see.


Here I am in an outfit I wore at 5 months too. It fit a little differently back then... can't quite close the jacket!







"Do I look pregnant in this?"








I do love showing off this big old baby belly!








This dress used to fit differently too! I am coming to the end of quite a few of my maternity clothes. Fortunately not long left and the few that do still fit will get me through these last weeks!







Belly pics from weeks 35 and 36. I can tell it's getting bigger, can you? Hey! Where's my belly button going? It has completely stretched out and I fully imagine the next weeks for it to do the old turn inside out completely gig!










Please read on for more pictures and stories from our last two wonderful weeks!

And remember to click on the pics to see the full size!