35+ week ob/gyn appointment

I had my regular ob/gyn appointment yesterday; this was my last
every-4-weeks-scheduled appt, from now on, as it seems right now, I will be
seeing her in 2 weeks, and from there every week until the delivery (it
should be 4 appts in total, in case I don't go past my due date).

Short version: everything's fine!

- blood pressu 120/80 (it picked up slightly since it's not so hot over
here now, the temperatures dropped to 28 degrees after 35+ degrees since
May!)
- weight: 30 lbs total, 4 lbs gain since the last appt a month ago (and she
was happy about it, no more 1700 calories/day diet suggestions! Honestly, I
was keeping track of what I was eating, making healthy and balanced food
choices, but I wasn't paying much attention to 1700 calories - although I do
think I wasn't going much above that number)
- urine: sterile (yay again!)
- cervix: closed, 25% effaced, everything normal
- baby heart rate: normal
- Pap-test came back: results normal (I had CIN1 diagnosed for 2 years, then
the previous Pap-test finally came back normal in April 2002, so she did the
new Pap-test 2 months ago).

She said that I can relax, everything is going smoothly, and even if I went
into labour right that minute, it would all turn out fine :-))

She gave me a standard chart to monitor foetal kicking with instructions
what to do if the number of kicks is low (I should keep track of it 3 times
a day; it should be 5+ kicks in an hour, if there is less, I should keep
monitoring for another hour, counting the kicks from the beginning; if
everything is fine, I should wait a couple of hours and then start counting
again; if not, I should contact the hospital).
This is not something new to me, she did not mention I should do it but I've
read about it so I did the monitoring, although not with writing everything
down, I was just paying attention to the kicks a couple of times a day.

That was it - next appt, September 18th.


Update:

After the ob/gyn appt I had an appointment with my dentist; he did some
dental work (I wanted to get that done before going to the hospital) and
said we should see each other again in 2-3 months - he still has some work
to do, but can't do it now because it'd require an anaesthetic.

Last week I checked my iron levels because the previous week I had an
episode of throwing up after taking prenatal vitamins (it seems now I react
to those as well as the iron supplement (syrup)) so I waited for a week and
did the HGB and iron levels blood test - they turned out fine (it's not like
I was anaemic before, my ob/gyn prescribes those supplements randomly :-( ;
so now I'm sticking to food rich in iron instead of taking the supplement -
what good can the supplement do if I don't keep it down anyway, right? All
other tests (WBC and RBC count and glucose level) are normal, too.


Otherwise, I'm fine. Lots of energy.
Today I'm definitively finishing packing my hospital bag (still need to put
some things I bought yesterday in the *main* hospital bag, and then pack
three small bags:
1 = my going home outfit; 2 = baby's going home outfit; 3 = snacks and
drinks for the standard 4-days-hospital stay - I plan to take some crackers,
cookies, water and juice, so they won't spoil if they stay in a bag for a
month or so), and have a lot of ironing to do since I washed baby's clothes,
etc.
The definitive nursery decorating will start on Sunday - the room is painted
since May, but we need to decide the position of the furniture, put some
shelves on the wall for toys, etc., and then I can start putting the baby
clothes & stuff in the drawers.
I start my 6-months-long maternity leave (yesterday I've got the official
papers) on Monday, and I hope the last days will be fun (still have to
choose baby announcement cards, make music tape for the car ride to the
hospital & delivery, make some paintings for the nursery, etc.).

I'm curious to see what names did DH veto from our baby name list tonight
:-)

Happy pregnancy/parenting, everyone,

Elly
35 weeks + 4 days
(30 days to go!)
EDD October 6th

"Elly" wrote in message
I had my regular ob/gyn appointment yesterday; this was my last
every-4-weeks-scheduled appt, from now on, as it seems right now, I will
be
seeing her in 2 weeks, and from there every week until the delivery (it
should be 4 appts in total, in case I don't go past my due date).

Short version: everything's fine!

Congrats on your almost-36 weeks! I think 36 felt like a particularly good
number! Actually, I like reaching all of the weeks--I think I will change my
mind after 39 though ;-) Sounds like everything continues to go well with
you--keep up the good work! Are you still having trouble with your feet
swelling? I remember you were having trouble getting shoes to fit!

snip
Last week I checked my iron levels because the previous week I had an
episode of throwing up after taking prenatal vitamins (it seems now I
react
to those as well as the iron supplement (syrup)) so I waited for a week
and
did the HGB and iron levels blood test - they turned out fine (it's not
like
I was anaemic before, my ob/gyn prescribes those supplements randomly
:-( ;
so now I'm sticking to food rich in iron instead of taking the
supplement -
what good can the supplement do if I don't keep it down anyway, right? All
other tests (WBC and RBC count and glucose level) are normal, too.

I absolutely agree about what good does a supplement do if you throw it
up--no point. Dietary management makes much more sense.

Otherwise, I'm fine. Lots of energy.
Today I'm definitively finishing packing my hospital bag (still need to
put
some things I bought yesterday in the *main* hospital bag, and then pack
three small bags:
1 = my going home outfit; 2 = baby's going home outfit; 3 = snacks and
drinks for the standard 4-days-hospital stay - I plan to take some
crackers,
cookies, water and juice, so they won't spoil if they stay in a bag for a
month or so), and have a lot of ironing to do since I washed baby's
clothes,
etc.

We packed our bag a few weeks ago, but since then I've found other things to
add to it that are now stacked on top. Time for a re-packing, I believe! I
did the same as you with food items too--all non-perishable that will be
good for multiple weeks. My mom is in charge of bringing fresh snacks with
her!

The definitive nursery decorating will start on Sunday - the room is
painted
since May, but we need to decide the position of the furniture, put some
shelves on the wall for toys, etc., and then I can start putting the baby
clothes & stuff in the drawers.
I start my 6-months-long maternity leave (yesterday I've got the official
papers) on Monday, and I hope the last days will be fun (still have to
choose baby announcement cards, make music tape for the car ride to the
hospital & delivery, make some paintings for the nursery, etc.).

I'm curious to see what names did DH veto from our baby name list tonight
:-)

Have fun with the nursery, names, leave, and all your plans!

--
Em
edd 9/23/03
(37w3d)

"Elly" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
I'm curious to see what names did DH veto from our baby name list tonight

Update on choosing names - DH & I just had a chat; he said he found all the
names from the list beautiful, but he eliminated some because they did not
sound (*flow*) well with our last name. These are the names we eliminated:
- eliminated boys' names: Aaron, Byron, Conor, David, Dominic, Eamon, Gavin,
James, Jordan, Justin, Loren and Shane;
- eliminated girls' names: Amal, Amy, Dea, Enid, Gaia, Jordan, Justine,
Leah, Loren, Madison, Morgan, Tessa and Tristine.

This leaves us with a "short" list of 4 boys' names and 12 girls' names ;-)

Oh, and he came home this weekend with some good news - he talked to his
boss about his labour leave from work, and he gets 3 days off for delivery
plus 8 days off saved overtime, and the boss said there would be no problem
if he took some unpaid leave a week after that. Now it all depends how much
time he will have to spend with me before I actually go into labour ;-) He
has to write a formal request for the leave, stating my due date, but does
not have to state the date when he plans to actually take the leave and come
back to work; I'm glad that they are flexible about it.

Today I bought some ribbons for the car - it's a tradition here to drive for
a while with a blue/pink ribbon (depending on your baby's sex) and put the
ribbon on the front door. As we choose not to find out the baby's gender, I
bought both colours ;-)

Elly
35 weeks + 5 days
(29 days to go!)
EDD October 6th

On Fri, 5 Sep 2003 10:27:56 +0200, "Elly" wrote:

Short version: everything's fine!

I am glad to hear that everything is going well.

--
Daye
Momma to Jayan
"Boy" EDD 11 Jan 2004
See Jayan: http://jayan.topcities.com/

"Em" ha scritto nel messaggio
news:i766b.366921$o%2.165490@sccrnsc02...
Congrats on your almost-36 weeks! I think 36 felt like a particularly good
number! Actually, I like reaching all of the weeks--I think I will change
my
mind after 39 though ;-) Sounds like everything continues to go well with
you--keep up the good work!

Thanks :-) It really feels good to be at 36 weeks (27 days to go until
EDD!). And congratulations about your almost-38 weeks! You had an
appointment today, right? What did your dr say about the B-H you described
in your post? (Sorry I did not reply, I just don't know the answer to it but
hope this is nothing serious!)

Are you still having trouble with your feet
swelling? I remember you were having trouble getting shoes to fit!

There was no swelling of feet at the Thursday appointment. By Saturday, not
only my feet, but my finger were swollen :-( I was particularly worried
about the fingers swelling because this is the first time I had this
problem, and my fingers are quite long and thin; for example, I never had
the problem with my wedding ring being too tight, it was always a bit loose!
Today both feet/fingers are a bit less swollen. I'm waiting for my mother to
come home to take my bp - if it's high (which would be unusual for me since
it's always normal or slightly low!) I will do the urine protein check
tomorrow morning. So I sort of have everything under control.

Elly
EDD October 6th

"Elly" wrote in message
"Em" ha scritto nel messaggio
Congrats on your almost-36 weeks! I think 36 felt like a particularly
good
number! Actually, I like reaching all of the weeks--I think I will
change
my
mind after 39 though ;-) Sounds like everything continues to go well
with
you--keep up the good work!

Thanks :-) It really feels good to be at 36 weeks (27 days to go until
EDD!). And congratulations about your almost-38 weeks! You had an
appointment today, right? What did your dr say about the B-H you described
in your post? (Sorry I did not reply, I just don't know the answer to it
but
hope this is nothing serious!)

I did have a doctor's appointment. She speculated that the long BH could be
calcium related and to up my intake. She also said that long contractions
are a concern when labor is being induced w/Pitocin, but if they happen on
their own they are not very concerning--she also said it was a good example
of how women's bodies do things their own way, not necessarily what the
books say!

Are you still having trouble with your feet
swelling? I remember you were having trouble getting shoes to fit!

There was no swelling of feet at the Thursday appointment. By Saturday,
not
only my feet, but my finger were swollen :-( I was particularly worried
about the fingers swelling because this is the first time I had this
problem, and my fingers are quite long and thin; for example, I never had
the problem with my wedding ring being too tight, it was always a bit
loose!
Today both feet/fingers are a bit less swollen. I'm waiting for my mother
to
come home to take my bp - if it's high (which would be unusual for me
since
it's always normal or slightly low!) I will do the urine protein check
tomorrow morning. So I sort of have everything under control.

What were the results when your mom checked your bp? I hope everything is
fine! I am still wearing my wedding ring also--it is still usually a bit a
loose, but sometimes gets a slight bit tighter after I've been using the
computer for a long time.

--
Em
edd 9/23/03
(38 weeks today!)

"Em" ha scritto nel messaggio
news:qIk7b.401097$YN5.264537@sccrnsc01...
I did have a doctor's appointment. She speculated that the long BH could
be
calcium related and to up my intake. She also said that long contractions
are a concern when labor is being induced w/Pitocin, but if they happen on
their own they are not very concerning--she also said it was a good
example
of how women's bodies do things their own way, not necessarily what the
books say!

Glad to hear that! Now you can relax and put those nagging thoughts away ;-)

Today both feet/fingers are a bit less swollen. I'm waiting for my
mother
to
come home to take my bp - if it's high (which would be unusual for me
since
it's always normal or slightly low!) I will do the urine protein check
tomorrow morning. So I sort of have everything under control.

What were the results when your mom checked your bp? I hope everything is
fine! I am still wearing my wedding ring also--it is still usually a bit a
loose, but sometimes gets a slight bit tighter after I've been using the
computer for a long time.

Blood pressure was 110/65 so even lower than on the Thursday appointment
(when I had no swelling). I tried the ring on today too (I don't wear it at
home because as usually it's loose, I'm worried I might lose/misplace it),
and it fits. So now I can relax too ;-)

Congratulations on your 38 weeks :-))

Be well,
Elly
36 weeks + 1 day
(26 days to go!)
EDD October 6th

"Elly" wrote in message
"Em" ha scritto nel messaggio
What were the results when your mom checked your bp? I hope everything
is
fine! I am still wearing my wedding ring also--it is still usually a bit
a
loose, but sometimes gets a slight bit tighter after I've been using the
computer for a long time.

Blood pressure was 110/65 so even lower than on the Thursday appointment
(when I had no swelling). I tried the ring on today too (I don't wear it
at
home because as usually it's loose, I'm worried I might lose/misplace it),
and it fits. So now I can relax too ;-)

That's great! I'm glad you can relax now. Is it still hot where you live? I
was wondering if that might cause the ongoing fluid retention. Funnily
enough, I had no problems at all with swelling when it was *scorching* where
I live, but after it cooled down and became rainy, I had two episodes where
the tops of my feet and my toes became a little swollen after sitting all
day!

Congratulations on your 38 weeks :-))

Thanks! Congrats on your 36+1 ;-)

--
Em
edd 9/23/03
(38 weeks today!)