37 Week Update and checking off the "To Do" list...

Thank God for productive days....

The highlight of today, of course, was my 37 week check up. I had gained yet another 2 pounds (what in the world!). It's packing on here at the last minute.... My weight gain total is at 31 pounds now. I'm hoping it plateaus after this week...but if not, oh well.

Collen was pretty active; his heart rate was in the 160s. My midwife estimated him to be between 7 and 7.5 pounds, but she said we could do an ultrasound just to check (more on that in a moment). She also checked to see if I had made any progress since last week. I'm a full 2cm and 50% effaced (sorry if that's TMI....I feel weird typing it, but it's important to know, I guess). She said his head seems engaged, so he's definitely in position.

I have been having sporadic contractions but nothing consistent. I haven't even had many braxton hicks contractions. So, hopefully my body will get in gear soon and get things going!

On to the ultrasound....

She measured his head first. And whoa, buddy, Collen has a big noggin. I looked up on the screen as she was measuring to see, gestationally, how big it was measuring. I am 37 weeks 2 days; his head is measuring at 41 weeks. Eeeek!! I called Jeremy and thanked him, very sarcastically, for passing on his immense head size to our son. She never officially told me how large his head was measuring, but she used the term "healthy" to describe it. And I said, yes....his brother had a "healthy" head too, but not THAT "healthy."

Sidenote: Ayden's head was his biggest feature in the womb, too, but once monthly check ups started, his head always measured smallest. Perhaps Collen will follow the same pattern....

Next, she measured his abdomen, which was described as being plump. ;) I like a cute, plump baby belly...

Then, we took a look at his face. As you probably guessed, we found all sorts of cute chubbiness....cheeks so chubby that we could barely see his eyes.

Oh, weight! I almost forgot. So, as I said, my midwife predicted 7-7.5 pounds. I told her we'd see how good she is since Ayden fooled all of them last time! They had predicted 6.5 pounds for Ayden on the day he was born. He turned out to be 7lbs 14oz! So, I was not at all surprised today to learn that Mr. Collen is a whopping 8 pounds! So, if he follows Ayden's pattern and comes at 39 weeks, we're looking at a 9 pounder. Yeah.....fun times ahead.

I asked the ultrasound tech. to check the fluid, umbilical cord, and placenta to make sure all looked well. She said I had plenty of fluid (woo!), the umbilical cord looked good and was just floating around in there (woo!), and the placenta looked beautiful....like it hadn't aged at all (big sigh of relief and another woo!). I didn't care that he was 8 pounds....potentially going to be 9 pounds at birth....I just needed to know that conditions inside were still favorable for him and his viability.

So, it looks like a lot of walks are in my future. I'll do what I can do help him along, but it's really up to him! We briefly discussed induction because of his size, but elective inductions can't be scheduled before 39 weeks. I'm not a big fan of inductions anyway because of what I've heard about pitocin and babies in distress during inductions. We decided to see how things look next week, and if I haven't progressed more, we may look into helping things along a little bit.

I found out that I did test negative for the Group B Strep, which was surprising since I was positive with Ayden. My midwife explained that if it is not present at the time of the test and you are a carrier, it can take 5 weeks for it to travel through the digestive tract from the time of the negative test result, so it shouldn't be a factor this time around. Yay! That means my water could break and I wouldn't have to worry about rushing to the hospital to get antibiotics in me. I'd still need to rush, but not as urgently. Whew....a big relief.

So, after my appointment, I headed out to take care of my "To Do" list. I'm proud of all that I've accomplished this week. With Jeremy working, I've had to take care of getting things in order with the new house....contract, earnest money, other decisions. I've had to make the phone calls, send the emails, and verify information. I've also been on the phone harassing people about getting Collen's insurance in order and making sure mine is taken care of. The following was checked off of my list today:

1. Drop off signed contract and earnest money check for house.

2. Drop of paperwork for Collen's insurance....all things should be covered on our end, just have to wait for them to get their stuff in order.

3. Meet with insurance agent for my insurance (since my coverage from work ends on 9/1) and find a reasonably priced plan - done, and feel satisfied with my decision. Decided to stick with Blue Cross since they've done a good job for me so far. Also got a homeowner's insurance quote while I was at it....

4. Have lunch with Lauren and catch up on some girl time. :)


I'd say that's a pretty productive day for a waddling pregnant lady carrying around an 8 pounder. ;)