Friday, March 2, 2012

22 week OB visit

Yesterday I had my 22 week appointment with Marie.  I was actually really looking forward to it because at my last appointment (my ultrasound and the scary news - remember?) Marie was sick and we had to see someone else.  So it's actually been 8 weeks since I've seen her and I had a lot of stuff to talk to her about!  Here's a breakdown of my appointment.


Heartbeat:  The first thing that she did was listen to his heartbeat.  Normally, his (and LL's - really) sounds like a very fast whooshing sound.  This time, it started as a whooshing sound and then turned into what sounded like a galloping horse.  I've heard people describe the heartbeat like that before, but I've never heard it myself.  It was really cool!  Marie said that his heartbeat sounded wonderful and was in the 140 range.  He's nothing if not consistent!


Size of Baby C:  She did talk to us a little bit about our visit to see Dr. Boddy in Macon.  After going over the fact that Baby C is fine, we did talk about his size.  She said that, honestly, it's not something to worry about right now.  He was not crazy huge (like in the 90th percentile or anything) and he has plenty of time to even out his weight gain.  She said there's a very good chance that he could end up being a more normal size.  She said that it's obviously something that we will continue to monitor.  I'll have another ultrasound at 32 weeks and they'll check his size again.  If he's looking pretty big at that ultrasound, they'll do another one at 36 and 38 weeks to check and see how he's progressing.  Basically, they weren't just going to let me fend for myself on this - they would definitely be working with me to make the best situation for both me and Baby C.  She said that now is not the time to start worrying about his size.  :)


Trip to California:  The next thing that I needed to talk to her about was my trip to California.  My sister and I have already booked our flights/hotels/etc. for the first week in April.  I knew that it would be fine, but I also knew that I still needed to get her to clear it for me.  I'll be 26 weeks when we leave and 27 weeks when we come home.  She said that I'll need to get up and walk 2-3 times on the plane since its a 5 hour flight.  She also said that I'll need to drink TONS of water (which will also help with the walking because I'll have to go to the bathroom!).  She said that even with drinking tons of water, my feet would swell and to not get too concerned.  We also scheduled my next appointment 2 days before I leave and she said that she would check me at that appointment just to make sure that I'm not dilated at all.  That way we can get a piece of mind before my trip.  Better safe than sorry!  Honestly, though, I'd be surprised if I was dilated at all.  26 weeks is pretty early for all of that.  I guess if I AM dilated that early, then it's definitely something that we'd want to know about, anyway!


Natural Labor vs. Induction:  Here was really my biggest thing to talk to her about.  With LL, I really wanted Marie to deliver her, so I was induced to be sure that that would happen.  This time, I've really had a desire to go into labor on my own.  This is our last baby, and I'd really like to know what it's like to experience that.  I knew that this may be an issue because 1- I'm due on a holiday and 2-I have no clue if Marie would come in for me if she wasn't the person on call.  Marie is British, so I was hoping that the 4th of July isn't a big holiday on her list - haha.  I was right about that!  She said she doesn't care about the 4th at all and is ALWAYS the one who works it every year.  Except - you guessed it - this year.  For the first time in 30 years, her husband (who is American) wanted to do something for the 4th.  So she'll be out of town.  This means, if I want to take the route of going into labor naturally, there's also a good chance that Marie will be out of town and I'll just have to be satisfied with whoever is on call.  OR, she can induce me the week before (the end of June), and I can be guaranteed to have her.  Honestly, having Marie is really important to me.  She delivered LL.  She was who we saw through our miscarriage.  She is who I've seen through this entire pregnancy.  Matt and I sat down and made a list of pros and cons for being induced again.


Pros: I've already been induced once before and we know that my body handles it well.  We could schedule it and work out some potential photographer issues so that it wasn't such a last minute thing.  Baby C would be born a week before the 4th - which could solve a lot of future problems with his birthday and people out of town, around a holiday, etc.  More people would be in town when we had him.  We could go ahead and make plans for LL and not have to worry about potentially going into labor in the middle of the night.  Matt would also be able to more accurately plan his work schedule and we could eliminate the possibility of me calling him in labor when he is out of town/in an enrollment, etc.  Cons: I won't get to experience going into labor on my own.  


With all of those pros and only one con - you can probably guess which direction this is going to go.  While I've definitely not made my mind up yet and I still have plenty of time to think about this, I can go ahead and tell you what will probably be the best decision for us.  


And realistically, there's always a chance that I'll go into labor on my own before the induction date.  That way I could get both: natural labor AND Marie.  That would be awesome!


Weight:  If you read my weekly pregnancy post yesterday, you know that I had a weight issue this week.  Up until now, I had only gained three pounds total.  Then, I gained 2 lbs IN 24 HOURS. ??  I have really been kind of freaking out about it.  Those 2 lbs in 24 hours put me at a total weight gain of 3 lbs this week - bringing my grand total so far to 6 lbs.  I actually expected her to mention this and possibly fuss at me, but she said nothing.  I brought it up to her, and you know what she did?  She laughed at me.  She said that she wasn't concerned about 2 lbs at all.  I told her that I gained it all in 24 hours and she said that it was probably water weight and not fat weight.  She said if it had been 10lbs in one week, she would have been really concerned.  Then, she looked it up in the computer to see how much weight I had gained total this pregnancy and her computer showed 6 (which is what I have been getting at home, too).  Do you know what she did then?  She laughed at me again.  I told her about my constipation issues and asked if that could be part of the problem.  She said it might be and told me some stuff I could take to "help the problem".  She said after I go to the bathroom, there's a good chance I could lose those 2 lbs.  :)  I guess if she's not worried, I shouldn't be either!


Overall, it was a great appointment.  I'm so glad that she's so patient and spends time talking to us about the stuff we're concerned about. I go back at the very end of March for my 26 week check-up and that's also when she'll check me for dilation right before my trip to California!

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2 comments:

Karen said...

Hi, Just curious. Are you worried that at 22 weeks, 6 lbs is too much to have gained. I'm about 20 weeks and have already gained 12 lbs. Hoping I'm not way off. My doctors haven't commented on my weight gain at all.

Thanks!

Robyn said...

NO! I don't think that 6 lbs (or even 12 lbs!) for 20-22 weeks is bad at all! My biggest concern is that I gained 3 lbs in ONE WEEK! That's the part that's freaking me out so bad! I'm going to be in a world of mess if I start gaining that much every week!