23-10-2009 - 36 week update

My mood while writing this blog: Ok

So yeah...I've gained 33 lbs! Had nearly a 5 lb gain since 2 weeks ago. Not proud of it, but I have been baking and eating too many cookies so it makes sense. I was told today that my weight gain is perfect so I'm going to leave it at that. I hope to not gain all that much in the next few weeks.

Speaking of the next few weeks. My check up today pretty much made it a definite thing that it will be a few weeks. There is a whole lotta nothin' goin' on! Don't get me wrong, I asked God for a healthy, full term baby boy and he is answering my prayers. I know I only have weeks left but still four weeks until my due date. Now, please God, don't let this baby be overdue! I am still closed and I have 80% of my cervix thickness left, which I guess translates to 20% effaced. Doc told me baby is starting to make his way into the birth canal, which is good. BP was 120/70, no swelling, no other concerns. Oh! My platelets are back up to a more normal level as well! They were low and there was a concern but they have bounced back which is good. This has been a text book pregnancy for the most part, other than the state of my emotions and moods early on and through the second trimester but even that has stabilized as my due date approaches.

I am disappointed in the way things are done at Mayo though. My plan this time is to do things as naturally as possible. I labor without meds but this time I want to labor without pitocin as well and today my OB doc told me "Good luck" and said that it is not the Mayo way to not give pitocin and I would have to do some convincing if I didn't want any. She explained that labors tend to go slowly and don't progress fast enough and that the chance of there being problems with the baby are greater. She said that before pitocin the infant mortality rate was a lot higher. I told her I wanted to labor at home for as long as I can and then come in and just be in the hospital to give birth, unmedicated and leave the next day. I still don't feel comfortable enough doing a home birth but wanted the least amount of intervention possible. I want to move around during labor and not be confined to an IV and bed. She frowned upon my idea ): She also urged me to get my H1N1 shot, which is available to pregnant women only on Monday. She gave me the card and really pressured me, telling me that it would help baby and that I have to think of the baby also. I told her I never got the flu shot in the past so am not about to start in pregnancy, but she insisted that I do it to help baby since he won't be able to get the flu vaccination until he is at least 6 months old. I am so torn, not sure what to do now ): I was dead set against the shot and now I'm not sure, since she put it that way.

SO anyhow, sometime within the next four weeks give or take a few days, we will have a healthy, hopefully chubby full term baby boy! I wanted my husband to experience a normal birth and homecoming this time since last time was so early and traumatic for us both. Looks like the man above has been listening.

Other than some serious low back, hip and pelvic pain and some difficulty with sleeping things are great. Can't wait to meet our baby boy!! We are all so excited!