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Whew...32 weeks and counting! Can't believe I'm in the homestretch. It feels so great to be in the single digits now. The nausea is still my contant companion, but I figure if I've felt this way for 32 weeks, I can hang on for another 8. Guess everything is relative.
Lots of updates for this post (for my own reference...sorry, it will be a long story):
**I've switched doctors and hospitals. This happened just in time for me to start seeing my new doctor, Dr. Green, at my 30 week appointment. Instead of delivering at Mercy Hospital (which is where Ella was born), I will be delivering at Unity Hospital.
Why the switch:
Jason and I toured both hospitals and were very impressed with Unity. They went through a 1.2 billion $$ overhaul of their labor/delivery floor two years ago and let me tell you, it looks nice. The kicker that make me decide that's where I wanted to go was because they have started offering waterbirths as of January 2013. Yes, I am having a waterbirth!
I had contacted the doula line in the information packet given to me when I started seeing my regular ob, these doulas service both hospitals, although you have to pay out of pocket, privately, to have one of them come to Mercy. Unity Hospital actually has an "on-call doula program". Meaning that they will help pay for the doula if you choose to have one, and once you arrive at the hospital to deliver, the on-call doula will arrive and help you through-out your birthing process. After having a doula with my delivery of Ella, I knew that I wanted to go that route again. Well, long story short...I got in touch with the head doula and she informed me that Unity had begun the waterbirths. I was pretty intrigued. Considering how hard my labor was with Ella, I knew that any option offering the opportunity for things to go a little smoother was appealing.
I researched waterbirths, watched lots of videos, and read lots of books. And spent even more time in prayer about it. I wasn't sure what God's plan was for how He wants this little one to enter the world, so I asked for guidance. I have to admit, although the waterbirthing experience seemed interesting, I was a little nervous to switch from my regular doctor. I had been with her for a long time and she even delivered Ella, and now she was the one in charge of my care with the hyperemesis and gestational diabetes. She knew my situation well. She has impeccable bedside manner and I just didn't know if I was willing to give that up. I knew, however, that I needed to start looking at the end game...the delivery. At my 28 week appointment, I asked her what my odds were of getting her again for the delivery. The big city isn't anything like the small towns...you don't get your regular doctor, who just shows up for the delivery when you make your way to the hospital. Instead, there are 15 doctors on rotation and you are stuck with whatever doctor happens to be on-call when you arrive at the hospital. When the question was raised about her being in the middle of a rotation when I needed to come in, she informed me that she no longer did deliveries...just saw patients in clinic. Well, that certainly seemed to make this decision easier. Add that to the helpful staff we talked with when we toured, getting to look at the nice, comfortable rooms, and knowing the option of a waterbirth seemed like just the things to point me in the direction of Unity. To top it off, I had spoken with Dr. Green while I was there for the tour (she just happened to be on rotatation that day) and realized she was the doctor I had heard so many great things about from 3 different people. Within the next few days, I had made the switch. Turns out that Dr. Green reminds me a lot of my old doctor. Who knew?!?
I had also found out that by choosing a waterbirth, the mother gets free doula service. This includes having the doula come out to your house for a visit to talk things over, meet you, and answer any questions you might have. On top of that, once I start having consistent contrations and know it's the real thing, she will come to the house and labor with me and help me decide when it might be the right time to leave for the hopsital. She will be there throughout the entire delivery and even help with some post-partum care. What a deal! I was sold.
**
SO...back to the 32 week appointment inself:
The 32 week appointment went pretty good. Baby is doing well, although I am measuring small. Amazingly, if you are 32 weeks along, your bump should, in theory, measure around 32 cm. I am however measuring around 28ish. This happened not that long ago too. At my 28 week appt, I was measuring at 26, so an ultrasound was ordered to just check on baby. The ultrasound showed that she was right on target and that everything looked good. We chalked it up to human error in the measuring. Crisis averted. :)
Well, now that I was once again measuring small, Dr. Green told me that if I was still measuring the same at the 34 week appointment, another ultrasound would need to be ordered. So...we wait. Hopefully I will catch up in the next 14 days and things will be right back on track.
Oh, another catch in the otherwise fairly decent appointment. Apparently, I'm not gaining that much weight. (duh) It certainly helps when you are on a diabetic, gluten free diet...not a lot of junk to be munching on in the wee hours of the night. No giving in to pregnancy cravings, no craming extra food/carbs into my face, or stuffing myself with delectable, rich, smooth, creamy chocolate ice cream with almonds and mini marshmallows mixed in from Coldstone (YES, if I could eat that, I think I would just belly-up to a giant pail of the stuff). Apparently, I only gained 1/2 a pound in the past two weeks and she would like me to start eating some higher fat foods. I'm thinking blueberries with heavy whipping cream over the top...at least there's a silver lining somewhere.
In the meantime, here's a pic:
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