31 Weeks!

How Far Along: 31 Weeks!
Maternity Clothes: Yep
Stretch Marks: still nothing, but my tummy's been really itchy so I think they're coming...
Sleep: So-so, half the nights have been terrible and half have been ok
Best Moment of the Week: Finding out that baby girl is perfectly healthy despite all my recent health issues!
Miss Anything? Fitting in my clothes and sleeping well
Movement: all day, every day
Food Cravings: Ice cream....I could probably eat it every day!
Anything making you queasy or sick: nope
Showing: Definitely.
Gender Prediction: Girl!
Labor Signs: Nope...
Belly Button In or Out? Still an innie...
Wedding Rings On or Off: On
Happy or Moody Most of the Time: Happy :)
Looking forward to: A laid back week this week!

I had my appointment at McMaster on Wednesday to meet my OB. Andrew's back to work at Bruce Power, so my mom came with me. I had an ultrasound at 8am, it was nice that they don't make you put on a gown like they do in Waterloo. Anyway, the ultrasound was fairly quick, but I kept having to reposition and go on my sides because I was getting light-headed. Baby's heart rate was 154 which was perfect, and the tech pointed out her hands, feet, spine, heart, and face. She explained that the bigger baby gets, the harder it will be to see things on the ultrasound.

My appointment with the OB wasn't until 11am, so we had a bit of a wait. We didn't actually get called in for the appointment until after 12! It was good my mom was there or it would've been a very long wait alone. We met with a nurse practitioner first, and went over my medical history again. She reiterated what I already know, that I'll be induced around 38 weeks. I asked if I should be concerned about the clot moving during labour and delivery. She said no, that the clot is likely too big to move, and the medication should prevent pieces from breaking off. We also went through the ultrasound results. Baby girl was given an 8/8 overall health score, and she is just above the 50th percentile on most things - so perfectly average. However, her femur bones are measuring at the 97th percentile...hahaha...I guess our girl is going to be tall!

We waited again for a few more mins., and then met my OB, Dr. Winsor. She was very nice and seemed very approachable and open to answering questions. Unfortunately, she said she likely won't be the one to actually deliver the baby. Either way, a high-risk OB will do the delivery, so she said not to worry. She said there wouldn't be much point in Dr. Stewart doing shared care, as she'd only be able to let me see him for one more appointment. I'll be going to see her every two weeks until 36 weeks, and then I'll go every week (which will really only be two weeks). We talked about picking an induction date, but didn't actually pick one. The nurse practitioner said it would likely be right at 38 weeks the week of June.10. We will probably pick the exact date at my next appointment. Dr. Winsor also explained that after baby's birth, the thrombosis clinic should continue to work with me to determine why I developed the blood clot in the first place.

So...I go back to McMaster on Friday to the thrombosis clinic - I'm hoping to change prescriptions to the once a day injection. Then I go back again on May.1st to see the OB again. Then back again on May.15 for another ultrasound and to see the OB again.

On Friday I went out for lunch with my team from work. It was originally supposed to be a goodbye lunch for my friend Daniela whose contract ended, but they extended her contract the day before. It ended up being more of a lunch for me...haha! It was really nice, almost everyone came and they gave me a nice card, a cute little top, and a gift card for babies r us. Super nice!

This weekend we had our prenatal classes, they were both Sat and Sun from 10-3. Unfortunately, given all these new developments, I felt like a lot of it didn't really apply to us. The lady running the class said that because I am getting induced, I will probably skip the long phase of minor, gradual contractions and go straight to the intense, hard contractions....yikes! She also said her sister was induced twice, and had one natural labour. Her sister described the inductions as much more intense, difficult labours, and she would definitely get an epidural if being induced again. So anyway, if I get an epidural I won't be able to use any of the pain management techniques or anything we learned about because I won't be able to walk.

We also learned that there is a greater chance of c-section after being induced, and that an epidural often leads to other medical interventions such as forceps, vacuum, episiotomy, etc. So yeah, feeling a bit disappointment that I may not have the delivery I'd originally planned on, but I have no control over it so I just have to roll with the situation and deal with things as they happen.

That's all for now.....only 7 more weeks.......AHHHH!