I've Just Seen a Face

Today was a 34-week ultrasound and OB follow-up. Everything went fantastically. One goal of the u/s appointment was to take a look at the placenta and see if there were any more calcifications forming; there was a little bit more but my doctor said that I'm still not a Stage 3 so things are still looking good. The other goal was to measure the amount of amniotic fluid; levels were normal.

I also mentioned to my fantastic u/s tech that the last couple of times we couldn't see Blobby's face because hir (hir is my made-up gender-neutral pronoun- maybe it'll catch on!) hands and feet were in the way. So she made a point to try to get a good angle so we could see Blobby's face. Because Blobby has moved down and flipped over on hir stomach the hands and feet were free but the face was looking down, so we did the best we could! I think we have an adorable baby in there. :-)

She also said that Blobby has a decent amount of hair! I wonder if that old wives' tale linking heartburn with the amount of hair is right after all. The hair was waving around and looked very much like Maggie Simpson hair- perfect!

So things went very well with the Maternal-Fetal specialist. In fact, when she came in to take a look herself after the u/s tech had finished, she made a comment about how she was happy to have an 'easy' patient. Wow. Who would have ever thought that my case would turn out to be an easy one? And by a high-risk specialist's standards. That certainly makes me feel good.

Next was my OB appointment. Urine tests for glucose and protein were normal. I gained another 4 pounds in 2 weeks which isn't bad, considering how much fluid I have been retaining (oh yeah, I didn't mention that my swollen, ugly, Shrek feet are back). I had some blood drawn so they can check all important levels including hemoglobin. As my doctor explained it to me, because I am having a C-section and have had a history of low iron, she wants to make sure that we check my levels now so that we can increase my iron intake with enough time to get 'tanked up' before my surgery. Makes perfect sense. I really hope my hemoglobin is normal; those iron pills are a nightmare!

We also discussed a date for the surgery. My DH & I had decided that Friday, June 6th would be the least of all evils since Blobby and I would be in the hospital getting looked after by family and nursing staff when DH has to go out of town for two days. My doctor told me today that if she had it her way, she'd book me for May 30th, which is a week earlier! I think that's a little early considering that our apartment is still not fully renovated and we still have a lot to do before we can settle it. Plus, the earlier I have the baby, the more time DH would have to take off work without pay, and the less time during the summer (when DH is off) that I would have before needing to return to work. So I think the 6th is the best choice. I should also note that two weeks ago when I had seen my other OB at the practice, we discussed all of these factors and she ended up booking me in the OR for Monday, June 9th and didn't tell me. I had initially asked her if we could do that day instead of the 6th since DH would be home by then, but she had told me that she would need to cancel out all of her and her colleague's patients at the private practice in order to do that since Mondays are not normal surgery days. So I figured that day was out. And besides, I talked myself out of wanting that day because that would mean that I would be less than a week away from my due date and home alone worrying that I would go into premature labor. And if god forbid something did happen, DH would be 3 hours away and I would be scared shitless. So no thank you, let's take the baby on the 6th and not have to worry about that!

On a completely unrelated note, I am aware that I have been tagged by Lizzybo, which I will have to work on at another time. I will post my answers as soon as I possibly can!

And many thanks to everyone who has been following my & Blobby's progress and sending me luck and love. It means a lot. I can't believe we're only a month away. And then I'll be seeing that adorable face in person.