WEEK 36- Baby's in Position!

PART 28, TRYING FOR ANOTHER BLOG SERIES

I had my 36 week appointment this week, which I was really looking forward to because it had been four weeks since my last appointment.

The night before my appointment I awoke in the middle of the night to what seemed like contractions. I felt crampy, they came and went in waves, and lasted for 1-2 hours. After they persisted for an hour or so, I became convinced that this was it. I thought about how I was going to have to call my doula and my mom in the middle of the night to come over. I tried to fall back to sleep in hopes that I could get a little more sleep before things really ramped up. I couldn’t sleep. I got up to go pee, and about 20 minutes later, it went away. I fell asleep.

The next day I texted my doula, Bee, about it and she suggested that it could have been dehydration, which is a possibility since I taught my kickboxing class that day (which gets me really sweaty). So I downed one of my LMNT electrolyte drinks, and didn't experience contractions again.

I got a reminder message from Kaiser that my appointment was on the day after it was supposed to be. In a fury, I called Kaiser, who had me on hold up into the class I was trying to teach, and ended up telling me that they had rescheduled my appointment (which was originally schedule for later that day). Ugh. I was mad. No one even told me! And I was really looking forward to this appointment to find out baby’s position and how I was measuring- not to mention if anything was to be made of my contractions. I fought and fought and finally got an appointment for later that day, but of course, not with my OB (whom I have only been able to see once during my whole pregnancy).

I arranged for someone else to pick up my kids from school, and I went to my appointment at Kaiser at 2 pm. I had a very friendly OB named Dr. Mankowski. She had the pleasure of testing me for Group B. She then measured my belly, while conversing, and made no comment about it, until I asked. She responded, “Yes, it’s small, but nothing concerning.” She then did a quick ultrasound look at my very low belly and said, “that’s a head!” Yay! Baby was in the right position! I asked if baby was sunny side up or not, to which she said it actually doesn’t matter because baby changes directions as it travels through the pelvis during birth, so it doesn’t actually become of concern until labor. Baby’s heart rate was good. Everything checked out good! I felt so relieved! Oh, and she checked my cervix because I told her about my contractions the night before, and I was only .5 cms dilated! She said they were probably contractions, but not enough to cause any dilation.

The next day I had my SoCo Perinatal Network meeting, where a bunch of perinatal providers gather to support one another once a month. I co-founded this group with another gal, and I am so glad we did. Having this circle of amazing women, passionate about work similar to mine (doulas, midwives, nutritionists, chiropractors, lactation consultants, etc) is such a blessing. I feel so supported by them, not only for my business, but my personal life as well.

Later that day I was supposed to have my second meeting with our doula, Bee, which I was REALLY looking forward to, but unfortunately she got called into a birth, so we had to reschedule. Totally understandable, but I was a bit bummed to not have our meeting, plus wanted to make sure we’d have our meeting before the big day!

I’m still feeling pretty great this week. It’s getting harder to turn over, get up from sitting or lying, and to bend over without feeling like I’m squishing the little one.

I’ve been getting this shooting vaginal pains, when it feels like the baby is trying to punch right out of me. Such a weird feeling. Sometimes I also have a hard time sitting upright without feeling like I’m squishing the baby, because it feels like it’s at the top of my ribs!

I only have a couple weeks left of work, which I’m glad for because I’ve been busy trying to get loose ends to my online program finished before I go out (not knowing when that will be). And I’d really love to have some downtime before baby arrives.