39-Week Doctor Visit

Another week, another visit to the OB. I was anxious about it, as I've been before every appointment for the last month or so. Not only is it nerve-wracking to know that I'm going to have this painful internal exam, but also, there's so much riding on what the doctor is going to say. She'll be the one to say that the baby's coming soon, or not-so-soon.

The nurse weighed me first (below), and I took note that I've now surpassed the recommended 25- to 35-pound weight gain that they recommend, which is funny, because everybody keeps telling me how I don't look like I've gained a lot of weight. My hips definitely feel the strain of all that extra weight, though, especially when I'm trying to get comfortable sleeping on my side at night!

We went into the room and the nurse said my blood pressure is good. Bill handed off my little bag of pee and she left, and I did the fun dance where I try to "undress from the waist down," fold up my pants and throw them at Bill, hop up on the table and pull the paper sheet down on top of me before the doctor opens the door, all without Bill seeing me half-naked. I'm sure when I'm having intense contractions or when the baby is coming out, I won't care about anyone seeing me or the legs that I haven't gotten around to shaving. But for now, I can't see below my belly and I don't want Bill to be looking at it either.

After about 10 minutes of Bill reading an old issue of US Weekly and only giving me occasional updates about Kate Gosselin's lonely birthday, Dr. A knocked and opened the door. She went right to work with the cervical exam, and reported that I am a good two centimeters dilated (which she said is more than last time -- Bill thinks I was "just about" two centimeters last week), 75 percent effaced, and that the baby is "definitely down there."

I asked her how long she'll let me go past my due date, and she said one week. That means that, by Aug. 4 at the absolute latest, I will have this baby. But she also said that she'll be surprised if I don't have the baby some time this week. Bill and I just looked at each other. That's totally unreal for us.

She listened to the baby's heart and said it sounds great -- 130s to 140s* -- and measured my belly. Then again, Dr. A gave us her spiel about when to call the office -- contractions one minute long, five minutes apart, for an hour, or when my water breaks. I really think she says the same exact thing every time.

Next week's appointment is on my due date -- July 28 -- but, unfortunately, it's with Dr. G. If I make it that long. Or I could get to the appointment and Dr. G could send me next door to the hospital. Or I could not go into labor at all, and they'll induce me on Aug. 4. I have no idea. All I know is that I don't feel like this baby is making any kind of effort to come out (effort that's apparent to me, anyway), and I'm OK with that for now. I don't feel any major discomfort (which I thank God for every day, considering how hard some pregnant women have it), and I don't want to rush it -- the baby will come when he or she is ready. Everybody keeps saying they want the baby to come now, but does anybody want it to happen at the risk of him or her not being ready for the outside world? I don't think so. So calm down -- you're making me nervous!

Today's weight gain: 2 pounds
Total weight gain: 36.4 pounds


*Based on the myths, one of the ways to figure out if you're having a boy or girl is by heart rate: if it is more than 140, it's a girl; less than 140 and it's a boy. I don't tend to believe any of these myths (everyone said my mother was having boys because she carried low and she had two girls), but this has brought up the conversation about our son's name again, with catastrophic results. So I'm going to end this blog and go cry over the fact that we can't agree on anything and neither of us is really happy with any of the boys' names we've discussed, and when we send out the text message with the picture of the baby, we're going to get a thousand responses asking for the baby's name. Ugh.