Almost-33 Week Prenatal Visit

Let's all do a happy dance. Stupid Bush; stupid midterms; stupid people who really think gay people getting married affects anyone else's marriage. I can name half a dozen heterosexual marriages I'd rather see made unconstitutional so I can stop being lumped into the same category as them, but that would be a truly juicy blog entry, wouldn't it? Constitutional amendments limiting rights never seem to work well - the last one that took was the two-terms limit for presidents and I can honestly say that there are times when I'm just thrilled that amendment is in place (1987 and the current year come to mind).

Anyway, this post should be about today's prenatal visit. We're almost to 33 weeks and are right on track for that for fundal height, 33 cm. Blood pressure was good, weight good, glucose good, protein good. They gave me a TB test since I hadn't gotten one previously; I have to run by on Friday so they can see if I have TB or not. Pregnant women apparently get a TB screening as a public health thing. There's no live culture in the test so it shouldn't affect the baby.

The birth center was calm for all the activity going on there: a birth last night at 3AM, plus another mother was being transferred to a hospital because her labor had stalled. Everyone was quite calm, but the midwives were tired. The midwife measured my fundal height at 35 cm (which would be quite the leap in growth) and then said, "I've been up all night. Let me find the head first and we'll re-measure."

The midwife located the kid's head and the kid is happily head down right where it should be. Mistah C and I both felt it; the baby has a head. There's still enough room for the kid to bounce around in there, but not enough left for the kid to somersault into a breech position. Breech is not good.

The kid is moving a lot; the midwife felt my uterus and said the kid is still floating. I asked if the strange twinges I have been having are Braxton-Hicks contractions since everyone in birth class seems to have had them and I haven't, but the midwife said, no, it's the kid moving. Apparently Braxton-Hicks contractions will make my uterus feel like a board and I could be having them without noticing.

The next appointment is in two weeks and they will be doing my term labs. I'm not nearly as excited about more testing, but I'll have my braces off by then. Less than two weeks, woo hoo!