34 Weeks 1 Day OB Appointment...

My husband and I were ready for our weekly appointment today.  When we got there and signed in, they sent us right back to ultrasound.  Here, they are going to check baby's size (within a lb either direction estimation) and measure the amount of amniotic fluid.  Baby Sydney looked great!  She was so cute, and even gave a belly laugh at something she thought was quite funny!  In the ultrasound pictures below, you'll notice the sweet smile.  Daddy hadn't seen her in a while, and I must say, this made his day!  I think Sydney has daddy wrapped around her little finger already  :)   Sydney's estimated weight today is 5 lbs 5 oz, which is quite a gain since her last ultrasound, but not bad according to Dr B.  Amniotic fluid was what they wanted it to be as well, although I couldn't tell you what the numbers were.

From ultrasound, we had an NST (non-stress test).  They had me sit back in a huge blue recliner after strapping one elastic band around my belly in order to measure Sydney's heart rate.  Their NST machine didn't have the second strap that measured contractions like the ones in L&D did.  We probably sat in there being monitored for 40 minutes or so.  As I would have a contraction, Sydney's heart rate would drop down to 110 - 112 but then after a few seconds (which did feel like longer when sitting there watching it) would bounce up to 168 - 175, and then a few seconds later, would return to her usual 143 - 147.  Nobody said anything about it, so we figured we'd ask Dr B when we saw him.

From the NST we were sent to Dr B's waiting area where we were shown to an exam room.  For the first time in my pregnancy (since they've been measuring fundal height anyway), my fundal height measured just under where I'm suppose to be.  Up until now, I've always measured at least 2 weeks ahead which Dr B says has been due to Roy the fibroid.  Today though, my fundal height measured 33 weeks.  He didn't say anything about it, and honestly, so much was going on, I didn't think to ask.  It will be interesting to see what I measure next week. 

My urine was clean of sugar and protein, both excellent.  Blood pressure was 120/76, which is also not bad.  He also looked over the tracing of the NST and circled several areas, but said everything looked fine.  Then, he checked my cervix and said it was thick and closed.  What in the world?????  After all of the continuous close contractions over the last week.... no change at all???  This just didn't seem fair at all.  Dr B says that with Roy sitting so low in the uterus, he's still preventing cervical changes.  We asked the question that's been weighing on our minds for weeks:  "If Roy is preventing cervical changes from occurring, then when can we actually expect this baby?"  Dr B said that hard labor could actually force cervical changes up to what he thinks could be 3 - 4 cm, although he doubts much more than that. 

By this time, all I could think about was, what does he mean hard labor?  What I've been having every day for 3 weeks hasn't done a dern thing and now he says it will take harder labor to make any changes?  There have been many times when I can honestly say that I couldn't take anything harder than what has already been happening.  I mean, really!  Contractions 4-5 minutes apart, low back pain and throbbing, menstrual like cramping, off and on diarrhea, nausea, the inability to get comfortable regardless of position changes or warm baths, and let's not forget that it's Christmas time and I'm spending a lot of time in a Tylenol with codeine haze.  Now I can expect things to get worse?  LOVELY!  I mean, don't get me wrong.  I want more than anything for Sydney to be safe and stay put as long as she needs to in order to be perfectly healthy when she gets here.  I'm just feeling so worn out and exhausted over this crap that Roy has been inflicting. 

Dr B said that unless I do start to experience cervical changes, Sydney starts to show signs of distress, or my water breaks, then he's planning our c-section for January 10th.  Whew!  At least we now have a date, something that I can look forward to.  Now... I just have to keep my sanity and strength in tact so I can make it.

Here are the pics of our precious little baby girl:  34 weeks 1 day, est weight 5 lbs 5 oz

34 weeks 1 day, est weight 5 lbs 5 oz

 

34 weeks 1 day, est weight 5 lbs 5 oz - Our Baby Girl is smiling at us  :)