Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Today was my 36 week OB appointment.
I hadn't gained any weight, which is great news. :) Blood pressure was normal. I had my Group B Strep test today, and should have the results next week. Hopefully it comes back negative, it would be nice to not have to worry about getting antibiotics during labor. She also did the first cervical check - I'm 1cm dilated and 50% effaced - yay!! That doesn't really mean anything, she still expects me to go to my due date, but at least it's progress. :) The baby's head is also engaged, so we shouldn't have to worry about him flipping back over into a breech position. Next appointment is at 38 weeks, and I'll have a sonogram to check his size.
We also went to the hospital today to meet with the patient care planner and get my birth plan put in my chart. That went really well, I thought. The hospital already does pretty much everything I was concerned about. After initial monitoring, I'm free to move about as I want. They won't separate Brandon from me after that time, either. It's no big deal if I don't want an epidural, but it's available if I change my mind. Once the baby is born, they encourage skin-to-skin contact and immediate breastfeeding. They'll footprint him and put his prints on anything we want. Then, his first bath takes place in the room with me, and Brandon can participate. They'll put a sign on the door from the very beginning saying that we don't want visitors, which leaves it up to us to ask for people if we want them to come in. Brandon can go to the nursery with the baby anytime he goes after that, but he'll really only go for his hearing test and circumcision. A lactation consultant will be on hand to help me out anytime I need the help, and they have a great security system in place. Overall, I was really happy with their policies and feel much better about the whole process. :)
