I turned 36 weeks pregnant today. 
And since Tuesdays are now designated as my weekly doctor visit days, it also meant it was time for another trip to the OBGYN.
My appointment this week was at 10:30. That meant I got to sleep in, right?
Wrong.
I woke up at 3:45 am, with no hopes of getting back to sleep.
Although my abillity to sleep through an atomic bomb is legendary amongst my family members, I have become quite the light sleeper during this last month of pregnancy. The doctor says it’s probably nature’s way of preparing Mom for the upcoming baby caring days.
I think it just has to do with a 5 lb baby jumping headfirst on my bladder.
My arrival time at the office was great today… I arrived 10 minutes early! Unfortunately that doesn’t mean squat in the eyes of the doctor’s office because I still sat in the waiting room for 35 minutes before being called back.
This week, after my vitals (blood pressure, weight, peeinacuptest) were completed, I didn’t have an ultrasound due to them taking me off of the gestational diabetes classification list. I did have the pleasure of having the beta strep test done.
I was scared until they told me that the only thing going inside me was a q-tip.
(WHEW.)
For those of you wondering – a beta strep test is done to detect the presence of a bacteria found “down there” in 20% of women. Don’t worry, it’s not sexually transmitted (my first question). It’s just a bacteria that although it doesn’t harm the mother, it can do severe damage to the baby. If a mother tests positive for the bacteria, antibiotics are administered during delivery to protect the baby from it. I won’t know the results of that test until next week.
Doctor Ann also checked for dialation (at my request). She, like the other 2 who checked me, seemed very surprised when she discovered that she could feel the baby’s head only 2 inches in. She didn’t even continue checking for dialation because she was afraid she’d hurt me and cause cramping to start. She did note that I was “very thinned” alread. No numbers were given for either dialation or thinning. 
Oh well…. (and admittedly, it DID hurt when she checked).
My “measurements” were also 3 weeks off – I measured at only 33 weeks. She says I probably shouldn’t worry though since last week’s ultrasound showed him perfectly on target and he received a perfect score on his BPP. Her thinking is that perhaps he’s dropped lower, causing my tummy to manually measure incorrectly. (The Fundal height? I think that’s what she called it).
One good piece of news – I gained 4 pounds in the past week! Last week I was at 142. This week I was at 145. Albeit though, an intern was taking my weight and I don’t have complete faith in her reading. The first time she recorded that I weighed 135 pounds. WHAT? I told her that could in no way be right…so she checked again and came up with 146.
This past week, since I’m no longer classified as a gestational diabetic, I haven’t counted ANY sugar intake and I’ve slowly allowed myself some of the “forbidden foods” (white bread, pastas, and even a pepsi…ahh). So what does that tell me? My un-scientific experiement makes me think that sugar is the culprit in weight gain or weight loss! Ditch the sugar, and you’ll ditch the weight. Increase the sugar, and you’ll increase in weight.
At least that’s what happened to me.
After all of my testing was done, we had our typical question / answer session. I asked her what would the hospital do if I passed out during labor (a very real fear for me due to past medical history and having run very low blood pressure during the entire pregnancy). She talked 2-3 minutes, but basically her message was summed up as “Don’t worry, you won’t pass out because of the IV fluids… Don’t worry, you won’t because of….Don’t worry, you won’t because…blah blah…”.
That doesn’t alliviate my fears. I hate it when a doctor assumes to know more about my body’s reactions than I do. I never did get an answer to my exact question of what would the hospital do if I passed out during labor.
There is a very, very real chance that I will pass out during labor. I’ve passed out before and I know my triggers (overheated, exhaustion, low blood pressure, loss of blood) – and all of them will be occuring during labor.
So anyway…that’s one of my labor fears. I’ll be proposing my question to the Doctor Fred (who will be deliving) the next time I see him. Hopefully he will give me a better, more strait-forward answer as to what will happen if I do.
After a few more minutes of chitchat, the visit was over and I headed up front to schedule next week’s appointment. Next time, I’ll be returning next Thursday, on April 17 (9:45 am). Tuesday was completely booked up. I’ll also be having another ultrasound to measure weight and growth….and I’ll be 37 weeks (granted that the baby doesn’t arrive before then!).
Time is running out FAST!
Related Posts
Tags: Dr's Visits
