So I had my 37 week appointment today. Justin decided to come along, even though I told him it would be boring. I'm glad he did, because it turned out to be a somewhat exciting doctor's appointment. I thought it would be just like last week: pee, blood pressure, see doctor real quick, and you're done.
Well I get there, and for once I got in right away. They weighed me, and I was up 5 lbs from last week! This means I'm retaining water and have officially hit the 20 lbs mark for pregnancy weight gain. Pee'd in a cup, we went into the exam room and waited.
Nurse came in, checked Eisley's heartbeat (145ish, good) and took my blood pressure. 150/90 - whoa! She said that's pretty up there from your baseline so lie on your left side for about 10 minutes and Dr. Watson will re-check it. If it's still high, she says, you might be setting a date here [for induction] pretty soon.
So I lay down on the table on my left side (secretly hoping my BP will stay elevated so I can just get labor over with sooner than later), and about 10 minutes later Dr. Watson comes in and says hi, rechecks my BP and it's all the way back down to 116/60. That's much better and he explains that my high blood pressure develops from my position. He says standing is one of the worst positions (and I think how glad I am I'm not working anymore) and that I should lay on my left side for about two hours a day. Better thand bed rest I guess...
Then he also says he'd like to do an ultrasound today and take some blood work, just to make sure that my bouts of high blood pressure aren't affecting Eisley and my organs.
Before that, he checks her position and sees if I'm dilated anymore. I'm not, and in fact he mentions with a tad bit of concern that I'm still "way up there" and showing no signs of effacement or baby dropping. He says that although she still has time to drop, they usually see more progress at this point. There's a chance my pelvic bone isn't going to be able to withstand the size of her head, or her head is just not making into the right position to drop (like it's tilted or something) and I wouldn't be able to push her through. He said if it's not gonna fit, it's not gonna fit so we won't make you push for hours before giving in and doing a c-section. We'll just have to see.
Great...
So he gets me in with a nurse to draw blood and she has to do it in my puffy Michelin Man hand because my veins always hide. Then the ultrasound tech lady takes us off to her ultrasound room. We got to see Eisley again, but mostly just measurements. Turns out she's about 7 lbs already (the average baby at 37 weeks is about 6.3 lbs) and her head is measuring just a bit larger. There's also a little extra fluid in there, which is better than not enough, but it's why I'm feeling her so much still. The ultrasound tech also comments on her hair! I was shocked, what baby of ours has HAIR that you can see on an ultrasound??? I swear, Justin, this baby is yours!
Then we go back to the exam room to wait for the doctor. He comes in and says that although she's slightly bigger (57th percentile) she's not getting "too big" to where they want to deliver her right away. But he does go on to say that, "You're at that point where you're far enough along to where if anything starts to tip the scale, we'd like to go ahead and induce to avoid complications from arising." He tells us that if anything comes back off with my bloodwork that they'll probably just have me come in for induction. If everything comes back normal, they'll see me again next Wednesday and re-evaluate then.
He also says that babies that don't drop by the time the mother goes into labor are at a much higher risk of needing c-section (about 75%). He also says, after looking over my chart again, that considering my blood pressure issues and my rapid weight gain this week, and Eisley's size - that if I make it to 39 weeks he think that would be a good time to go ahead and get labor started. That's in a week and a half! But that's fine with me!
SO -- the thing is, because Eisley hasn't dropped and isn't showing any progress in that area, my chances of having a c-section are heightened, although nothing is set in stone yet. Also, it's sounding like my BP and baby's size are starting to make him nervous to let me go all the way to 40 weeks. It sounds like, I'll probably be having this baby a bit early. But she's ready, having already made it to 7 lbs and 37+ weeks.
To be honest, I'm sorta hoping they get my bloodwork back and decide it's time just to get me into labor tomorrow. Although that's not likely. It would be nice.
This is how I feel right now:
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