No sign of labor, yet...

Today at the OB Baby Earl was moving, heartbeat strong, my BP was a little elevated but good (134/84) for me at this point, and had the first pelvic check - not dilated one bit! Dr. Cole (Dr. Brown called in to emergency c-section) said at this point that is fine, she could come any time but it will be when she is ready.

So now, the next step is an ultrasound next Friday to see how big she has gotten this last month, and that will determine the next next step. :) No plans to induce or for c-section at this time. I am having some early pre-labor systems but nothing concerning or worth going into detail about :).

As far as how I feel about it? Well I am anxious to finally get to meet her and hold her, see her beautiful face and all that hair she supposedly has....but you know its kind of surreal still to think how close we are to this next phase, and how much things will change again once she is here. Its very exciting, and I am just thankful to be feeling so good and to know she is content exactly where she is. Of course it is pretty uncomfortable for me sleeping at night right now, the heartburn is back with a vengance (though it never went away only lessened for sometime) and there is nothing I can do to hide my waddle or the still growing and hardening belly, but still I cant complain. I feel good.

Plus this gives me a little more time to put the final touches on her room. My baby girl already has a closet that matches her mom and Yaya's closets; just packed full of clothes, blankets, toys... I still have a huge garbage bag full of clothes to wash that I got 2 days ago from a vendor at work of barely worn hand-me down clothes. She will be one well dressed baby girl!

So doesn't seem likely I will get to have Baby Earl on Grammie's birthday, the 23rd is just 4 days away...but you never know, either way as long as she is healthy I am just fine waiting until she is ready!

Big, Healthy and Lots of Hair!

Today at the Ultrasound, I was happily surprised to have Ashley there too! She came with Auntie Sandy, and we got to see Baby Earl's feet, legs, tummy - even her stomach, her hands, her heart beating! We did not get a good look at her face because she was sleeping with her fist in front of her face, but we got to see her profile. She has cute chubby cheeks and the technician showed us she has a full head of hair!

At 35 weeks, 5 days, Baby Earl is 7lbs 2 ounces and projected to be about 8.5lbs at birth - right about what me and Bear were born as. She is head down and I have lots of amniotic fluid protecting her, 90th percentile!

Dr. Brown was very pleased again with my weight and I will be going in once per week now to check on her growth and my BP. There are no plans to induce or schedule a c-section, the plan is still a vaginal birth when she is ready to come out.

All in all it was a great doctor's appointment. I am so excited to meet Baby Earl. I can't believe she has lots of hair - I was completely bald. I feel great, and she is healthy - God is Good!

Doing Just Great & Love Our New OB!

I am so so so happy I switched to Dr. Brown. The nurse was great, he was caring, kind, funny and put me at ease. He is a great listener, took time for all my questions, and was just so positive - this is what I imagined OB appointments would be like, no wonder he is the number one choice of nurses who are preggers at VMC.

Health update: Me and Baby Earl are doing great...blood pressure good, kidneys good, her heartbeat is good and strong and all in all everything is just great! According to Dr. Brown my weight gain is within the range of what he would expect given my pre-pregnancy height, weight and build. Of course now we just need to make sure baby doesn't gain too much weight - so gotta stay on top of my sweets intake, no problem. All in all was a great appointment, and I feel so much better that I switched!



Now we start seeing him every 2 weeks! With an ultrasound at the end of July to check her weight, position, etc... Just 9 weeks to go! Plus he gave me the OK to fly home to Spokane for the twins birthday party in July! Yay!

Needless to say it's been a great day; the sun is shining, me and my baby are healthy, my mom comes in town tomorrow, friends and family are gathering for the baby shower on Saturday, and I get to see some high school friends on Sunday. Life is great, as my Grammie would say - God is good!

25 weeks 6 days & Met the first midwife I didn't like....

Ok, so the important stuff first...Here are the ultrasound pictures from the 5/7 ultrasound, 23 weeks 6 days...this was the appointment my parents got to come to, baby slept through the whole thing but they did get to see her and hear her heartbeat. It was so awesome to have them there.







As of the ultrasound, baby was healthy, growing well, her spine looked good and she is in the 74th percentile so the doctor said if I carry her full term she will be about 8lbs at birth.


Today, I went to the Midwifes for the gestational diabetes test and a regular check-up. Each time I go I see one of the 5 or 6 different midwifes - whoever is on the day of the appointment. Today I met with a new one, and I just didn't like her. She was not real warm, and I felt judged. Mostly she talked about how overweight I am, that I really should not gain another pound during the pregnancy becuase I have gained all that I should - "though I don't know how you can do that", she advised I exercise 30-45 min every day, and walk for 30min after each meal (which my college education says that is 120-135 of exercise a day) eating lean protein and little to no carbs, no sugars and really eat as much fresh food because "cooking just adds calories". Then when we started talking about a birthing plan and labor to which I got the "women have been having babies for thousands of years without pain medication, epidurals only stall labor and with your size it makes it that much harder on you and us for you to even move or turn over" speech. And she didn't read the chart well enough or forgot about my breast reduction, so immediately started talking about breast feeding and classes, when I have been told since I was 16 that I will not be able to breast feed. (She did talk about a system using a tube from your shoulder down to your nipple, so baby is feeding on the tube and your boob - to get the experience of breast feeding - though at that point I wasn't really impressed with her and will have to look into this more on my own.)

Needless to say, I left the appointment feeling really horrible about my weight and like a wuss for being worried about the pain of labor and wanting to have pain medication available. I have been working to keep the weight gain down, and her tone and bedside manner made me feel like I am lazy and not trying hard enough. Which of course I can do more, and try harder but it is not easy and putting me down is not really motivating either. I have been thinking since I left the appointment that maybe midwives were not the best option for me, maybe I need to switch. I just know I don't want to see her again. At least the other women are more positive and supportive when they tell me how overweight I am, they are encouraging and offer helpful, practical advice. Maybe it was just her tone. I am pretty tough skinned about the weight issue, I mean c'mon I have been fat all my life this is not something new I am hearing from doctors - but her delivery was less than I think I have a right to expect from the midwives.

So on top of having to drink that icky drink and being anxious about the results of the diabetes test - which wont come in until Monday, she actually managed to make me feel the worst about my weight that I have felt the entire pregnancy. If I wasn't at work, I would probably be crying.

Next step? Guess I will just work harder to cut calories and exercise more. I guess its possible to lose weight as the baby grows in the last trimester, and still get baby girl what she needs to grow. Time to do some online research. But as far as delivery goes, if I need pain medication I will ask for it, I just don't see the shame in that.

As for today, I choose to just focus on the fact that Baby Earl is healthy, I did get to hear her little heart beating this morning, and I am glad it is Friday.