June 7, 2004 (36 weeks 2 days) - I can't believe we are down to the wire already on this pregnancy. At this point the baby could be born any day now or it could be as long as another 6 weeks. I'm feeling pretty large and finding myself having a harder time getting around, especially sitting down and getting up, and getting out of bed. Heartburn is still a regular and daily occurrence. I find that I am eating smaller meals and getting full more quickly. I am also in the bathroom much more often. I will see my OB this Friday, the first visit to her in the practice she just joined and in a new office. I get cramping/contractions every now and then, but nothing regular as of yet. I still have just over 4 weeks of work left. We have the nursery ready for the most part, and the baby clothes are washed and ready to go. Nicolas loves to hug and kiss baby Noah and I hope he'll love him just as much when he actually meets him for the first time. I think what I'm looking forward to the most is seeing how the kids react to this new little person in their home. They are such loving and caring kids, and they adore babies, so I think it will be great to see them with their new little brother.
June 14, 2004 (37 weeks 2 days) - Things are just going right along with nothing unusual to report. I saw my OB on Friday at her new office and that went well. It was the routine checkup, found out I gained 2 more pounds which she said "we won't talk about that" so I have to love her for that! Blood pressure and urine test were fine, baby's heartrate and fundal measurements were fine, and I had my culture for group B strep taken and should have the results in about a week. I am now on weekly appointments and I've scheduled them for the next two weeks so far and would have scheduled another week but they were having computer problems. This weekend we will have someone over to our house to teach a birthing and relaxation techniques class. I sure hope we get some use out of it this time. So far, I'm just huge, using the bathroom often, and still getting heartburn pretty regularly which even the Zantac doesn't help sometimes. I find myself craving citrus juice, oddly enough, these days, but nothing else unusual or exciting to report.
June 23, 2004 (38 weeks 4 days) - Tomorrow will be another OB appointment for me. I'm sure it will just be routine like last week. I saw my OB at her Annapolis office last week and it was a madhouse and I waited over an hour just to be seen, all for a quick 10-15 minute appointment. We aren't doing any internal exams, unless I want her to, but I really think they are just unnecessary unless I'm having regular contractions and really think something may be happening down there. Since that's not the case, I am taking the hands-off approach and I'm so glad my OB agrees with that. On Saturday, June 19th, Frank and I had a private labor and birth rehearsal class in our home, taught by the doula who I was going to hire but have decided against. She's just really great and I loved the fact that we got the essentials we felt we needed, had our questions answered, and she gave Frank some great ideas to help me out when I am in labor. Of course, on Sunday as we drove the hour down to my parents' house for Father's Day dinner, I started having quite a few contractions. They lasted almost the whole drive down, but never intensified or got regular. It was just funny to have so many in such a short time period. Since then, I've only had some sporadically, but again they aren't anything really worth mentioning so far, they are just there. I still don't think we'll see this baby before sometime in July, even though my best friend Michele feels this weekend would work well for her schedule. She is eager to meet this baby, as this will be her godchild. The weather has been nice enough that we've taken a few long walks outside lately, but even those don't bother me at all. I may be hugely pregnant, but I really don't have any major complaints about it and I could go another few weeks like this I think. My OB has decided to put me on the "schedule" for a c-section on July 16th and even though I don't plan to make it that far, if I do I'll still insist that if the baby is okay and I am okay, I will delay it even longer if necessary.
June 25, 2004 (38 weeks 6 days) - My OB appointment was pretty routine, just as expected. I was in and out of the office in no time. I just LOVE my OB, if I haven't mentioned it before. She joked about how "shocked" she was to see me there. Yeah, we all know this baby is going to wait another 2 weeks before even attempting to come out. She said she'll see me again next week, and the week after that she expects I'll be having a baby. She does not expect me to make it to the "scheduled" c-section, which is set for July 15th so far. I lost a pound in the last week, my blood pressure was fine, I'm measuring a bit ahead and closer to 40 weeks, the baby is head down and that's about it, though she did do a quick internal just because the nurse had already had me get undressed from the waist down. Frank is really anxious to meet her and really wants to go to my next appointment. He wanted to go to this one, but had to get the kids. He's going to try to make it to the next one. I think I just talk so highly of this OB that he wants to meet her also. She suggested some "natural" ways to perhaps help things along down there. We even talked about herbal things, like Red Raspberry Leaf Tea and Evening Primrose Oil, which I've been using correctly. Oh, and I found out my group B strep test came back negative, so there's no real rush for me to get to the hospital for antibiotics during labor. She even said that if my water broke and I wasn't having contractions, it was okay to stay home for several hours. With Nicolas, I had to come in right away, but I also had to have the antibiotics for him. We talked about when I should show up or call her, and she agrees that it's okay for me to wait as long as possible if I can as long as I feel comfortable. If I start vomitting, which could indicate transition, I should probably show up and be checked. Otherwise, it's best to wait until contractions are at least 5 minutes apart for at least one hour. That's pretty much the norm though. So, all is well and I still don't expect baby Noah to make an appearance until sometime in July. Oh and I have noticed that my hips and pelvic area are definitely getting more sore every day, especially at night which makes it painful when I have to roll over and get up a few times a night to use the bathroom.
July 2, 2004 (39 weeks 6 days) - Frank attended my OB appointment and thankfully it went much fast than the last one in this office, where I waited over an hour to be seen. It was the usual appointment, I gained a pound which I had lost at my last visit, so I'm back to where I started the week before that one. Blood pressure was up a tad bit, but nothing unusual or to be worried about. Baby was measuring at 40 weeks and heartrate sounded good. I was considering skipping the internal exam, but since I was already half-undressed we went ahead with it. Well, we do have some progress in that I'm about 50% effaced. However, looking back at my records, I did the same thing with both Nicolas and Noelle, so I'm not really thinking that's a sign that anything will be happening soon. I had to make another appointment in a week for a non-stress test and another checkup, but sadly I was unable to get an appointment with my regular OB. Instead, I'll be seeing someone else in the practice and I'm not thrilled about that. As the woman making the appointment kindly pointed out, I should try to see all of the doctors in the practice since they may be the one on-call in case my OB can't attend, but quite frankly I am so far along right now that it's not like I even have the time to see all of the other 6 doctors in the practice if I wanted to do that. Plus, it's a male OB, and while there is nothing wrong with that, I have NEVER had to see a male OB and I'm not sure I want to start right now. I have the appointment for next Friday, July 9th, so we'll just see if I even make it that far. I told this baby it would be nice if he would decide to arrive before that so I don't have to stress out about meeting a new doctor. Oh, and we should try to avoid July 6th as that's the day my OB is scheduled to be in surgery as well. Nothing else to report but more contractions here and there but nothing regular or even very strong.