Third Ultrasound and 41st Week Appointment

Today ended up being a long and tiring day, even though its still only 5:00 pm. When I woke up this morning and started making the bed, I noticed a big wet spot on the sheet. I also noticed that my tummy felt harder than usual, but that the top was still squishy. We were worried that maybe my water started leaking last night without me realizing it, so we called the midwives. Since I need to be put on antibiotics as soon as my water breaks because I am GBS positive, they told me to come in at 11:30 for an earlier appointment than I was scheduled for so they could check and see what was going on. When Robbie and I got there at 11:30 though, the midwife who was supposed to check me was rushing off to the hospital for an emergency. The receptionist said it wasn't likely she would be back in time to make our originally scheduled appointment and that it was probably not a good idea for us to wait that long anyways just in case my water was leaking, so she sent us off to the hospital too. Robbie and I stopped at EMS to pick up a cooler so that we could pack our popsicles, fruit, tangerine flavored coconut water and cheese sticks for the hospital, then stopped at home to grab our suitcase just in case I was going to have to stay at the hospital for any reason. I wasn't having any contractions, so we were hoping either contractions would start soon or my water wasn't actually broken so I wouldn't have to be induced.

At the birthplace they started off by giving me a non-stress test. This involved laying down on a bed (being reclined on my back like that is really uncomfortable right now) with a couple of monitors strapped on my belly. One monitor measured my contractions (which I wasn't having any of), and the other monitored the baby's heart rate. They kept the monitors on for about half hour and said that everything looked great. The baby has a strong heart beat. Next she wanted to check to see if my water had really started leaking. This was rather uncomfortable. They had to insert a long, lubricated tube inside me and take a few swabs of samples near my cervix. They tested the acidity level (if my water was leaking, my vagina would be more alkaline than the normal acidic pH it is supposed to be at) and found that was still normal. She said that there was some liquid pooling inside, so next she took some of the liquid under a microscope to see if it was amniotic fluid or not. It was not, so she concluded my water was still intact and I was okay to go back home. Before I left though, she asked if I wanted to check to see if I was dilated yet so we all had a better idea of how I was progressing. I was curious too, so I said okay. This was one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever experienced (and don't tell me just wait til childbirth because I don't want to hear it, I am content thinking it will be intense but not painful). She had to put her hand inside me and reach her fingers really far up to feel how open my cervix was.When she did this, the baby moved onto my bladder so I really had to pee. Thus it was hard for me to relax because I was afraid of peeing. So I think being so tense made the whole experience more painful. But I survived just fine, and found out that I am only dilated one centimeter!  I was a little bummed about that, hopefully Mattimeo gets things started in there sometime soon!

After lunch, Robbie and I went to have an ultrasound. The baby is so much bigger now than he was at my last one, so this time we could only see little bits of him at a time. It was really cool to see though. My amniotic fluid levels are still at a really good level and my placenta is healthy. Mattimeo's head is fully engaged now and he is facing slightly towards my right hip. His back is slightly towards my left side and curves towards the right and his bum and feet are up towards the right side just under my ribs. We got to see his little fingers, stomach, and arm and leg bones. We also got to watch him move. One of the coolest things we got to see was his little mouth practicing suckling. He is healthy; his heartbeat was 139 bmp, he was breathing well, and his reflexes looked good. Now for the biggest news: he said he knew how much he weighs! Turns out he is a big boy, and already weighs 9 pounds! Holy cow! Well he weighs 9 pounds +/- 10% which means he could be anywhere from 8-10 pounds. But the ultrasound technician said he is a big, healthy boy. Sounds to me like this big, healthy boy better make his way out into the world pretty soon before he gets much bigger! It sure looks like he is ready developmentally!

41 Week Ultrasound: this mostly shows his head, but isn't a very good photo since he was scrunched up in there

Robbie and I stopped at the store on the way home to pick up some bigger onsies (0-3 months; 8-12 pounds) because he is probably not going to fit into the cute newborn onsies we had got him (6-8 pounds). This was fun because I am even more excited about the new ones we got; they are green and brown and have cute little foxes, moose and raccoons just like the animals that decorate his room. Now we are back home and playing the waiting game again. Everyone should do a birth dance (like a rain dance) to get things going for us! Thanks in advance :) The midwife told us most of her first time mothers give birth in their 41st week, I hope I'm one of them!