As you can see, I had my 36 week appt. today! Baby Girl looks like a full term baby now!!!! Good news: She is measuring 6 lbs, 3 oz. compared to Logan's 7 lbs, 9 oz at this same stage. Also good news is that she is completely anterior, compared to Logan was side-posterior at this ultrasound (and came out that way as well which was part of what led to my 4 hr pushing phase). In fact, that was the best and only pic of her face that the technician was able to get because Baby Girl was facing my back. The bad news is something that I had NO idea about prior to today! Some of you may remember that Logan was born with a head in the 10th percentile but stomach in the 90th. At the time, no one acted like this was any concern (our pediatrician just wanted his body to even out at a good pace, and it did). Well this baby was the same way, which is actually rare - most babies' heads are bigger than their bodies. I always thought you wouldn't want a big head (i.e. a cause for a c-section is when the head can't fit through the pelvis) but actually you want the head to be bigger rather than smaller because it's the head that gets the rest of the body out! :( In other words, if the head is bigger than the body and the head comes out then the body is not going to have a problem coming out, either. Shoulder dystocia is most likely to happen when the head is SMALLER than the body because the head comes out but the shoulders get stuck. So this was a major bummer to learn today, as Dr Sullivan had to let me know that is a warning sign that the same thing could happen as what did with Logan. :(
She said at this point there is still no reason not to let me have a vaginal delivery but if I get to 39 weeks then I will be induced. I'm really hoping I don't go that far because the baby would most likely be 9 lbs by then and I have a feeling she actually means I'd have a c-section. . .she's just not going to tell me that because she knows that's why I left Dr. Taggart, lol. She said she hopes for the same thing I do - that my baby will come this coming week (June 26-July 2nd) or the next (July 3rd-9th)!!!!!!!!!
The good news is that my bag of water looks like it could break any minute. Apparently it's sitting as low as it can get and has already started to a little (thus the little leaking that I've had) - the position or something is align with labors starting with the water breaking first again. Chances are then this would be a fast labor (prior to pushing) for me again (with Logan it took only 3 hrs to go from my first sign of labor - water gushing out - to completely dilated).
I was 50% effaced and almost 3 cm dilated which is great, but that's one cm less than Logan was at this point (I was hoping for almost 4 again, lol, especially with all of the cervix pain I have been having - it is every hour these days)! With that said, second pregnancies tend to dilate faster so I could be 4 as soon as tomorrow! Needless to say, I'm not going to my grandma's funeral tomorrow. This was my final appt. of my pregnancy last time - I had Logan three days later. (But the equivalent day of when I had Logan for this pregnancy is July 3rd, Joe's birthday.)
My amniotic fluid is right at average compared to above average with Logan (a sign of his brachial cleft fistula - so hopefully that means this baby does not have it!). So, other than that dang 10% head again, everything was ideal. I don't know where this small head with big tummy comes from. She said it's genetic, but I keep looking at Joe and telling him his head is huge, LOL! He was born with a 21 1/2 inch head compared to Logan who had a 13 1/2 inch head!!! Even I, who was born at 30 weeks, had a 12 inch head (so not that smaller than Logan who was full-term)! Nobody in my family looks like they have small heads, lol, but I guess Logan didn't look like he had a small head at birth - he looked completely proportional.
Well, all I can do at this point is pray and start doing the things on the list of natural ways to induce labor. For example, last weekend a woman was telling me that she heard egg plant induces many people, so she went out to an Italian restaurant and had Eggplant Parmesean and then went into labor that night! So I plan to eat egg plant sometime this next week. This evening we went to Roja for our final time (for some spicy Mexican food, as that is on the list of possible inducers), and after I post this we are going to take a long walk. I also plan to take some primose oil tablets and make an appt. with my massage therapist this week who, despite my going to her regularly for almost 3 yrs, I have only been to once during this pregnancy (back in January) - there are pressure points that my massage therapist can do which might stimulate labor so it's worth a try. . .otherwise, I'll just be in heaven for an hr! I also already tried something this afternoon that I didn't do last time in the months prior and then had some spotting and cramps for the next couple of hours so I took that as a good sign. If the other things I just listed don't do anything over the next few days then I'll move on to other suggestions!
I'm glad Joe was able to go with me to the appt. After my last post Tuesday night, Joe came home on Wednesday, June 22nd so this week went fast and was no problem! He worked from home yesterday, Thursday, June 23rd, while I took Logan to our last park (Seymour Smith) for the final time. I forgot that there is also a small splash pad there -- Logan walked over to it and touched it and it turned on, haha! We didn't have our suits so thankfully didn't get wet. We had the whole playground to ourselves 'cuz it was only 65 degrees out. From there we went to our usual park (Walnut Creek) and then met Joe for lunch at Fazoli's. After that it was time for Logan's nap, and not long after he woke up my mom & stepdad came to visit.
As I had written in 8 Months Pregnant, my parents were going to come June 22-24 but instead ended up just coming for a couple of hours on the 23rd before going to visit my maternal grandmother in Kansas City.
Today, Friday, June 24 Logan went to preschool and Joe asked his new manager what he should do and the manager said Joe already did it all so just enjoy getting paid for the day! Geesh, this is a nice change from all of the overtime the past year-and-a-half at his old job!!! His manager said Joe has set a record there for the time it takes him to complete his work. Joe thinks as time goes on it won't be like this, but for now this is great with our long-distance family and the baby coming! I'm hoping he'll let Joe come home again next Wed eve as well. . .
So anyway, also at my appt. today my blood pressure was 126 over something but apparently that wasn't a concerning jump so that's good. I'm at 34 lbs gained (so my goal is only one more). Baby's heartbeat was 145. She also did the Group B Strep test, which last time I was okay for so hopefully I will be this time, too.
Otherwise, today I took Bella to the vet for the final time. I had said back in What Is The Deal With Walking? that we were never going to our vet here again due to issues with the receptionists. However, there didn't seem to be any point in going to a new vet clinic just for one visit (since they made a mistake and didn't get Bella in with Cosmo back in April) so this way I was able to pick up copies of their records to give to a new vet in West Des Moines. I was also able to say goodbye to our vet of 6 yrs-3 mos (since I've always liked her) and she had several super nice things to say as she wished us well.
Well I better go for that walk now! I'll end with the posts that I wrote during this stage of my pregnancy with Logan:
What Is Done At Each Doctor's Appt.
My Birth Story
I'm Almost 4 CM Dilated!
Good luck with everything! I hope it works out exactly as you wish.
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