34-Week Doctor Visit

Just as our last visit was the quickest OB visit since I got pregnant, today's was the best. We had a morning appointment so I could also get my thyroid levels checked, and I got there at about 8:45 a.m. for my 9 a.m. appointment. Instead of doing the blood work first, they decided to wait (in case the doctor ordered more blood tests) and so I waited as well.

Bill was making the most of his late day into work and went to get his oil changed, saying he'd meet me at the doctor's office. He pulled into the parking lot just as the nurse called me into the office. He missed the weigh-in (below) and the blood pressure (good), but found his way into the right room before the doctor. Whew!

Dr. A entered the room with a quick knock and a smile and asked how I was doing. I said good, out of habit, and immediately regretted it and tried to think of a way to tell her about my symptoms to try to get some kind of conversation going. While I was thinking, she asked if the baby has been kicking. I took that as my opening. I said that, yes, the baby was kicking a lot, and that I am swollen like crazy, with heartburn and lots of pelvic pain. She smiled again and said, "Well, it sounds like you're at the end of your pregnancy." She assured me that those things are all perfectly normal, but suggested Mylanta if my Tums don't work (which they do) and elevating the head of the bed (which we should be doing for Bill's GERD anyway but don't).

She moved on to hearing the baby's heartbeat, which she said sounded great. Bill decided it was time for him to ask a question, and asked her why the heartbeat sometimes sounds very fast and sometimes slower. She explained that it depends on the baby's sleep patterns. It's crazy to think that the baby has sleep patterns -- that makes it so real!

She measured my belly and said that is right on track as well. Then I went for the doozy -- I asked Dr. A how I know where the baby is positioned (which I had asked Dr. G and gotten shot down, if you'll remember). She said that the head definitely is down, but that the baby keeps moving for now. I explained about how sometimes my belly feels hard on the left and other times on the right. She said that it's the baby's butt, and it will move back and forth, and sometimes I'll notice waves (all true). I also said that I don't feel like I'm ready to have a baby yet, and she said, "You're not. And you won't be. And then the baby will come and you'll love it." And then our appointment was over.

Dr. A was thorough and, most important, willing to have a conversation about my child, which is all that I've been waiting for. Bill said that he also felt better about her (as opposed to Dr. G), and thought this was our best appointment. I think we're both crossing our fingers that she's the OB on call when Baby Pavlou decides to appear.

One funny note -- Dr. A sent in the phlebotomist to draw my blood for the thyroid test, and I cringed while she stuck my left arm. She pressed the gauze into the crook of my arm and opened a bandage to cover the area. Then she said oops. I looked, expecting blood or something, but she laughed and showed me the Gardasil bandage she had opened. "Well, there you go," she said. "Fancy!" So I went to work with a Gardasil bandage from my pregnancy thyroid test.

Today's weight gain: 3.2 pounds
Total weight gain: 26.2 pounds

June 29 will be our final two-week appointment -- then we move on to the once-a-weeks! Let's all say it together: HOLY CRAP!!!