June 14th, 2006Squirmy baby and the 34 week OB visit
CREEPY! 
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So, people. When you have a dentist’s appointment, what do you do to prepare beforehand? Do you brush extra diligently, maybe floss a wee bit more than you would have?
It’s the same for me when I go to a gynecological visit where I know I’m dropping trou. Two weeks ago, Dr. K said that he’d do an internal this week, but when I got there, all dignity lost when you have no pants on and are covering your lap with a flimsy paper sheet, he decided to wait until my next visit.
Everything is looking good so far - I haven’t gained any weight from last visit 2 weeks ago (thank god, cuz frankly, the numbers on the scale can just pause now. I haven’t seen numbers this high since 2003 when I was first diagnosed with diabetes!), my blood pressure was fine (131/80), no protein in the pee, and the baby’s heartbeat was doing well.
I brought him a list of pediatricians and he recommended a few from my list, so we’ll be making appointments with them soon. He gave me back my forms for medical leave post-baby, which once again depressed the shit out of me considering how stupid the FMLA is. Again, I seem to be the only person around who is remotely concerned about a breech birth. Dr. K says that at 31 weeks, most babies are breech, and most of them turn around. He said that at the next visit, he would check and see if the baby had turned around, and if not he’d schedule an external version, a process he says is “very unscientific. I’ll try to turn him around from the outside.”
Also, this week I start going in for weekly non-stress tests and amniotic fluid checks, both recommended because of the diabetes and the sporadic bouts of high blood pressure. So all in all, everything looks good. I’m starting to get a little anxious about the alien’s eventual departure. Excited, and nervous as hell. Can’t turn back now!!
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Last week I sent out an email to friends and included a recent belly picture. My dearest friend Alex wrote back,
“Oh my god, your tits are HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Guess that boy’s not going to go hungry! HAHAHAHAHHA”
That’s my Alex. I should also say that he doesn’t have the, ah, typical male perspective on breasts, batting for the other team and all.
June 15th, 2006 at 2:20 am
The alien is preparing to fight its way out if it has to! Run! (Or something.)
If you’re concerned about breech, check out spinningbabies.com — it has lots of info about getting the cajoling into proper birthing position.
June 15th, 2006 at 10:58 am
Is that someone talking on TV, or is that your OB?!
Your amniotic fluid must be pretty good, that baby is swimming around nicely in there!
Wow, almost here… so exciting.
June 15th, 2006 at 12:28 pm
Casey, I understand where you’re coming from with concerns about a breech birth. Matthew turned at 32 weeks, then flipped back to breech at about 35 weeks, and I think finally came to head-down at 37 weeks. When all this was going down, I did a little research and found that this is actually more common than the pregnancy books out there would lead one to believe. So, hopefully your guy will decide head down works for him really soon!
June 15th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Do you have a yoga teacher? Because when I was a yoga therapy assistant I recall we had a series of poses we did with the pregnant ladies to encourage the baby to turn into the right position as they got closer to the big day.
June 16th, 2006 at 2:18 pm
My boy was breech and turned around too. I did do some yoga poses recommended by my teacher, I don’t know if that was it, or if he turned around on his own. I bet yours will turn around too!