10th OB Appointment (36w0d)

I had my 36 week OB appointment this morning. And wow - these appointments really seem to be happening pretty quickly now. I think I am getting closer to being ready for Murtle's arrival, but I need for her to be about a week late since I'm going to be working up until the Friday before my due date and it would be great if I could have a full week at home making the last minute preparations without having to worry about work.

I got to meet with Dr. Edwards again today. I must say that she has become one of my favorite OBs in the practice and I hope that she ends up delivering Murtle. I gained another full pound since Wednesday (making it a total of about 12 pounds of pregnancy weight). Although Dr. Edwards told me that she still wants to see me put on some more weight, she was highly pleased that it seems that Murtle has caught up growth-wise since she advised me to start eating more ice cream, as she's convinced that it helps with growth issues. I tend to believe that and switching to 2% milk actually helped. My blood pressure checked out fine and I assume the urine sample was A-OK, too. Dr. Edwards did not do a cervix check today since I just had it done last week. She said that it is pretty likely that I could go over my due date considering there has been no action going on down there yet and because this will be my first child. She told me that since I do not wish to be induced a week before or by my due date (which recommend because of my "advanced maternal age"), then she wants me to also go to the specialists' office for weekly visits from her on out so they can monitor the health of the placenta (since it could start to break down soon), the fluid levels and just make sure Murtle is still growing and thriving.

We also went over a checklist of items in preparation of Murtle's arrival (e.g., reminding me that I will need to get the anti-biotics during labor because of my GBS, labor signs (contractions every five minutes that last a minute each), where to go when it's time to go to the hospital, and birth control after delivery (ha!...as if I need to worry about that). She asked me if we had a name yet, so I told her our in-utero name - she got a kick out of that, especially when I told her that when I told Dr. Penn what the name was, I was afraid that he was going to refer me to social services immediately for pre-emotional abuse, ha ha.

I also talked to a representative from the Johns Hopkins' School of Nursing's Birth Companions Program today. One of my Fertile Thoughts friends told me about the program and I decided to get some more information on it, especially since I am considering a natural birth. DH thought this could be a good resource / support for us, especially since it won't cost anything. The program offers free student nurse doula services to any woman in the Baltimore metropolitan area. After speaking with the representative, I agreed to meet with two students (they work in pairs to ensure someone will be available at time of delivery) for an initial visit to get some more information and to see if this service would be useful for Murtle's delivery. Here's the link to the program for anyone who is interested:

nursing.jhu.edu/practice/bc/about.aspx

9th OB Appointment (35w2d)

I had my 35 week check-up today and first internal cervix check with Dr. Marcus Penn (the final, yet senior OB in the practice, who I had yet to meet). I liked him - he was very friendly, seemed to have a good sense of humor, and took a good amount of time to answer my questions. I gained FOUR pounds since my last appointment on May 6th! However, all is well - my cervix is closed and Dr. Penn could tell that Murtle's head was down! I figured she was positioned feet down based on where I was feeling the majority of her movements (in my lower regions as opposed to up near my ribcage). But darn it - wouldn't you know that Dr. Penn was about to also do the Group B Strep test until I told him that I already tested positive for it and that he had already told me that he was going to put me on anti-biotics at delivery time. I am really not a fan of these large group practices anymore.

Also, my husband and I got to meet with our potential new pediatrician today, Dr. Andre Gvozden of Gvozden Pediatrics. Dr. Gvozden and his staff seemed very nice and friendly and my husband and I liked that the practice consists of just him (as the pediatrician), his wife Cathy (as the pediatric nurse practitioner) and another pediatric nurse practitioner. He also has great credentials (been in practice for over 20 years; training was at the Children's Hospital National Medical Center, Johns Hopkins Hospital and Sinai Hospital; has additional expertise in dermatology and attention disorders; is currently on staff at Anne Arundel Medical Center and Johns Hopkins Hospital; and is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland).

We also liked that he does not take transfer patients - his new patients consist of the newborns he meets when they are at the hospital and then he follows their health throughout their youth.

The only issue we may have to consider is that he is very pro vaccination, which is something I was still a bit on the fence about. I am not opposed to vaccines, just the schedule and amount. However, Dr. Gvozden did a good job of allaying our concerns about the alleged vaccine - autism link. We will probably end up going with his practice because I do feel as though he looks out for the best interests of all of his patients and that we can trust him to provide good, quality care.

8th OB Appointment (33w3d) and Non-Stress Test

I had my 8th OB appointment and NST this morning at my OB's Annapolis office. Today's OB, Dr. Margaret Keith (very nice doctor, but she seemed so young), was satisfied with the results of the NST test and even told me that future ones are no longer necessary since my MFM reported that everything from my follow-up growth ultrasound was A-OK.

As for the check-up itself, I learned that I'm holding steady at a 7 pound weight gain. Dr. Keith told me that she would like to see me put on more weight, but I believe Murtle is growing just fine since I've been feeling her move pretty regularly and since my uterus measured 32 cms. Plus, it's hard to gain weight when I just really do not have much of an appetite for anything and since I continue to experience fleeting moments of nausea. Dr. Keith wrote a referral for me to have one more follow-up growth ultrasound with the MFM in two or three weeks. I didn't object, of course! Maybe we'll get some good pictures of Murtle next time. We didn't get any pictures last time because she was facing my spine and the technician could not get a good view of her face.

Oh, and it's a good thing I'm up on my medical issues because I do not have much faith in my OB's practice. I understand how things can fall through the cracks because you never see the same doctor very often since it's a rotating group practice, but why should I as the patient have to remind them of things? I asked Dr. Keith how my TSH was and she said it should have been tested when I had my glucose screening done. She checked my record and learned that it actually had not been checked then, so she set me up to have it tested today. She then told me that I will have the Group B Strep (GBS) test done at my next appointment in two weeks. I told her that I didn't think I needed that since they found that I already had it and she said, "oh, you're right." This lack of attention to detail makes me nervous, but encourages me to simply be more vigilant about my care.

Follow-Up Growth Ultrasound (31w2d)

Things are continuing to go well. I had my follow-up growth ultrasound at the MFM's office on April 22, 2010 (at 31 weeks and 2 days) which showed that Murtle was starting to catch up growth-wise. She was just a week behind - in the 44th percentile (up from the 15th percentile at the previous appointment) - and she weighed almost 4 pounds. My cervix was holding nice and strong at 3.5 cm, the fluid was good, Murtle was active, and my cord was fine. The MFM felt comfortable enough with everything that he told me I had "graduated" and did not need any additional ultrasounds. Yikes! I have a feeling Murtle is going to continue to be on her own (SLOW) schedule, like her father. I hope Dr. Sacks used my egg because as of now, Murtle not only resembles her father, but acts like him, too, LOL!