38 Week Check-Up

I had my 38 weeks check-up on Tuesday and am glad to report that everything with baby girl is good. I've been seeing my OBGyn weekly and have one more appointment before the surgery. She checked me at 37 and 38 weeks and no surprise, I'm not even 1 cm dilated. I have a feeling I won't progress, like with Peanut, so a C-section is inevitable.

J attended my 36 weeks visit so the doctor could go over the surgery details with us. We'll check into the hospital at 7am, go through pre-op, and at 9am, head into the operating room. We should be done by 9:30am. She said it will be a little weird because I'll actually walk into the operating room and plop myself down on the operating table. When I delivered Peanut, they wheeled me in on a stretcher and lifted me onto the table because I had an epidural several hours before and couldn't walk.

Even though this is major surgery, I feel pretty calm. Last time, once I found out I was having a C-section, I started dry heaving and shaking uncontrollably for an estimated 4 hours. It started during pre-op, continued through the surgery, and after the recovery. I remember when I was given Peanut to hold for the first time and breastfeed, I had him on the boob while vomiting air into a bag. Exhausted doesn't even describe how I felt. It is probably why it took me so long to recover. I know some anxiety will kick-in once we're in the hospital, but I feel a lot more prepared this time, which helps.

Baby girl has a strong heart beat and is still quite the active one. She does something which feels like stretching that makes the skin on my belly stretch. It's really quite painful. My belly's measuring a little larger than average and my ultrasound at 35 weeks says she's going to be about 8 lbs.

I am feeling quite good, but get tired around 5:30pm and wish J was home to take care of Peanut. It was a lot easier being pregnant and working than chasing a two-and-a-half year old around. I tend to wake up around 5am and have a hard time falling back asleep. I guess it's my body preparing me for nighttime nursing.

Here's a picture of my belly at 38 weeks.