Tristan's Story

Today was my follow-up ultrasound. The baby's head was measuring 3 weeks ahead last time, so they wanted an update. It's still measuring ahead, but so is the rest of him, so it looks like he'll be a normal - but big - baby. :0) The ultrasound estimated that he weighs 9 lbs., 4 oz. at this point - but it can be off by as much as 2 pounds. By the look of things, the tech thinks that he should be arriving pretty soon.

After the ultrasound, I had my usual appointment with Dr. Carl. I've officially gained 40 pounds this pregnancy. :( But I'm trying to stay confident that I'll be able to lose it. Blood pressure was fine. I was also negative for Group B Strep, which is a relief. Now I don't have to worry about getting antibiotics during labor.

I'm up to 2cm now - not sure about the effacement, since she didn't mention it. She seems to think that the baby is closer to weighing eight pounds than nine, and she thinks I shouldn't have a problem delivering him the natural way. I'm scheduled for an appointment with her next Monday, but she said that there's a chance I won't make it that far (yay!). So feel free to send labor vibes my way! ;)

Wow! As of today, I am 38 weeks pregnant. I can't believe it! It seems like just a few weeks ago, Brandon and I were back in Killeen and found out that we were going to have a baby. So much has happened since then, but it's all gone by so fast! I'm really, really ready to meet my beautiful baby boy, but things have gone just as planned thus far, so I think we might have a few more weeks to wait. I just want him to be healthy and happy, but I do wish he would hurry just a little. ;)

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. :)

I'm 34 weeks, 5 days as of today. And it was time for my bi-monthly OB appointment.

Blood pressure was good, as usual. I gained 4 pounds, which isn't great, but Dr. Carl didn't say that she was concerned about it, so that's good. Tristan's heartbeat was a strong 150,.. he was a little more active this afternoon than he usually is when I have appointments. :) He's also still head-down, which is great. I'm still measuring right-on for my dates, so it looks like we just have a little over 5 weeks to go now.

My next appointment is in 2 weeks, and then they're weekly after that. So we're in the final countdown now! :)

I didn't take pictures this week, things keep coming up. But I'll try to add one this weekend. :)

Today was my 32-week appointment. Can anyone believe that? =-0

First, I only gained 2 pounds this time. YAY! My OB said that everyone had been really upset with their weight gain this last week or so (blame Thanksgiving) but that she was proud of me for gaining exactly what I was supposed to. :D

I'm measuring right on for my dates, so that's great news. And the baby's heartbeat was strong, in the 130s. That's a little lower than usual, but he's also getting bigger. :)

At my last appt, the receptionist mentioned that my dr is taking vacation the first week of January, so today I asked her about it. She said that she'll be gone, but she had no idea that the receptionist was just skipping that week of appointments. Instead, she scheduled me an appt with her nurse practioner so I can have my weekly appt and she'll take care of anything I might need that week. Which works for me, b/c I didn't want to get stuck with one of the other [male] doctors in her practice.

I think that's all. :) I tried to do a little too much today, so I'm going to go put my feet up and try to relax for a little while before bed. Next appointment is in two weeks. =)

I'm 32 weeks (8 months) as of today, so here are some pics:

Today was my 30 week appointment, and I got lots of info this time. :D

First, I had my follow-up sonogram, since they couldn't get all of the required shots at the 18 week one. Tristan is looking good, and is just as cute as ever. ;0) She got a good look at all of his anatomy and everything is looking just like it should. He's measuring right on target for his age.
His weight is right around 4 lbs. 1 oz. -- my OB said that's in the 69th percentile for his gestational age, which is g.reat.

As for me,... I only gained 4 pounds this week, so that was a relief. Also, no signs of preterm labor which is good, of course. I tested slightly anemic at my last appointment, but haven't been able to tolerate my over-the-counter iron supplements, so she gave me a prescription and hopefully these will work better.

Other than that... my appointments are now every 2 weeks. =-0 I can't believe we're that far along!! They went ahead and scheduled me all the way through my due date, so we're definitely counting down now!!

In case you haven't seen them... Here's baby Tristan in 3D at 28 weeks and 1 day (October 27, 2008).