Sure, come on in! (24 days to go)

I went to the Dr. yesterday for my 36 week check-up. I'll start by saying once again that I really like my doctor, he is very kind and gentle and laid back which has helped me be the same (until my hormones fly off the handle but I digress...) Anyway, I was expecting that this visit would go much the same as my previous ones...nurse comes in for vitals, sends in the Dr., he checks the baby and on my way I go! Not so much this time:-) The nurse part was the same but then in came the Med student with "Hi, I'm helping Dr. today and is it OK for me to ask you a few questions?" Being that I know Mayo is a teaching facility and I fully appreciate that, I agreed to answer her "few" questions....however, "few" turned into about 100 but I was still fine with that, after all she's learning and what pregnant woman doesn't enjoy talking endlessly about pregnancy and her baby?!:-) Then came time for "hop up on the table and I'm just going to measure you and find the baby's heart rate while we wait for Dr." So, up on the table I go and assume what is undoubtedly one of the MOST vulnerable and uncomfortable positions a woman can be in (ladies, back me up here!). So while she's "gently" pushing on my belly to feel baby to determine it's position, the door swings open and there is Dr. along with....yes, you guessed it, another Dr. who is tagging along today! Basically, the small exam room turned into a clown car with me as the "main show" in the middle. Good fun. Then my Dr. asks "Are you feeling puffy today?" To which I replied "Yes, somewhat" and then the good part....he replies "Yeah, you look like it!" Um, thanks? Turns out I'm puffier than I thought, he is a tad concerned so he decided I should come back in Monday to be checked again and in the meantime stay off my feet as much as possible and rest. I have to pause here to put a plug in for my wonderful husband who is doing everything around the house, driving me to work and even going out for take out when I'm hungry....trust me, I got a good one!!:-) Love you hunny!! But I digress again, back to the Dr. visit...in reality, it wasn't too bad, they were all extremely kind to me and understanding and I truly appreciated that. If nothing else, it has started to prepare me for the circus that is called "Labor and Delivery":-) I'm told that by that point, nothing is sacred but thankfully I'll be in so much pain I won't care:-) More fun:-) Now for the important part, the Baby:-) Baby F is doing great, his/her little heart was beating away at 140 BPM and he/she is moving around like a champ! All in all, we are doing great and SOO excited to meet this little peanut...mommy is hoping sooner than later but whenever he/she decides to make the big entrance, we'll be here with open arms:-)

Baby update...39 days to go!!

Lots has been happening the past few days so I'll back up just a bit and give you the "full report". After weeks of bragging that I was going to skip the whole swelling part of pregnancy, my body decided differently and about a week ago, my feet and hands swelled a LOT! I wasn't too concerned since a lot of people experience that, namely my little sister who had terrible swelling issues for weeks during her pregnancy. So, I stowed my wedding ring and was grinning and bearing my newly formed cankles until I started to feel a little dizzy and light-headed and had a dull headache. Sunday we were getting together for Mother's Day and my grandma offered to bring my grandpa's blood pressure cuff along to check things out. The initial readings were off the charts so I started to worry since my BP has NEVER been high. After a few hours of worrying, I called the hospital and they asked that I come in to be checked, just in case. Long story short, my BP was elevated but not nearly as much as the at home cuff had said so that was a relief. They monitored the baby and I for a few hours (baby was great!) and ran some tests and sent me home as I already had an appointment scheduled with my doctor for today. After picking on me for checking my BP at home, my doctor said he wasn't too concerned at this point, he just wants me to stay off my feet as much as possible and get plenty of rest so that's the plan! He did another quick ultrasound to check baby and everything looks great, baby is head down, heart beating away at 136 BPM, and he/she was practicing breathing again! The Dr. is very pleased with Baby's progress so that made me very happy! He warned me that while we are in the final stretch, these next few weeks will seem like the longest but to hang in there because eventually, the baby WILL come out:-) I thought I'd post a few U/S pics just to show baby's progress. The first one is from 4 weeks ago (I was 30 weeks 3 days along) and the second one is from today (34 weeks and 3 days). I was AMAZED at how much the little bean has grown in such a short period of time (no, the second one isn't zoomed in, it's the same scope as the first one!)....but I guess given the fact that my belly has grown just as much I shouldn't be all that surprised!:-) Hope everyone is doing well and I will keep you posted!!