38-Week Belly

I had my 11th doctor appointment last week. This was the day after Michael so gallantly painted my toenails. I noticed the nurse did a little double-take at my toes while she was taking my blood pressure so I told her that the pedicure was my hubby's handiwork. She was impressed that he was sweet enough to do that. *snort* But there you go, Michael, compliments for you.

Anyways, I don't remember much of the appointment. I guess it's a good thing I take down notes! My memory has been AWFUL! I pride myself in having a really good memory. Michael always says it's like a steel trap in there but not so much nowadays. It truly is disconcerting - especially at work!

So, per my notes, here are the stats from that appointment. I didn't gain any weight whatsoever from the previous week so I remained at a total weight gain of 25 pounds. My blood pressure was at 100/60 mmHG. Sugar Bean's heartbeat was at 144 bpm and... *NEW INFO* (drum roll please) I was 1 cm dilated. This is progress compared to when I was pregnant with Sweet Pea. If you'll recall, with Sweet Pea I wasn't dilated until the day before my due date. Of course, this doesn't mean a whole lot considering I'm determined that Sugar Bean will not be born until after 5/22 at 5 pm!

Moving on to my 12th doctor appointment, which was yesterday - 38 weeks and 5 days. At the appointment my doctor asked me "so how much longer would you like to stay pregnant?" My response was, "uhhh, until she's ready to be born of course." She clarified that a lot of her patients typically don't want to wait with the 2nd/3rd/etc. baby and she's willing to induce as early as 39 weeks for these patients. I told her that I'm perfectly okay with waiting until Sugar Bean's good and ready. She advised that she wouldn't let me go past 41 weeks but she's okay with waiting as long as I was. I also told her that I certainly didn't want to go into labor before Saturday because that's when Sweet Pea's dance recital is. She felt pretty confident that I would make it to the recital.

So here are my stats from yesterday's appointment. I gained a whopping 3 pounds since my last appointment which brings me to a total of 28 pounds so far. I blame it on the strawberry shortcake that Dad and I inhaled while he was in town this past weekend. He was visiting for Chris and JoAnn's wedding. Thankfully the doctor didn't say anything about the weight gain. My blood pressure was at 114/66 mmHG and Sugar Bean's heartbeat was at 140 bpm. I remained 1 cm dilated and was also 50% effaced. Still, my legs are crossed until 5/22!

Here are the comparison belly pics:



38-week belly with Sugar Bean




38-week belly with Sweet Pea