We had another doctor’s appointment last Tuesday. I would share the latest photo, but it’s not really that great and you can’t see much of anything. It’s the same angle as the last one but a lot fuzzier. Apparently Mackenzie didn’t want to hold still long enough for the paparazzi to do their job this time. But the measurements he took were all in line with 33 weeks (a number count I won’t get into right now because I still think he’s at least a week ahead – but the counting subject has confused me from the start anyway) and everything was looking like it’s supposed to.
I’ve been hooked up to a CTG the last few visits to monitor what’s been going on in there. This time around, I apparently has a couple of contractions in the 30+ minutes they were scanning me. The doctor asked if I’ve been noticing them. To which I must have responded with a completely blank stare because I was pretty much stunned.
Me: “Uh, no. I mean I don’t really think so but I also don’t really know.” Cause you see, I hadn’t even noticed the difference between Mack just moving around and the “contraction” even though the machine told me it was happening. I just thought she was trying to get away from the sensors again.
Dr: “Do you notice your stomach is hard more often?”
Me: “Hard? Not really.” Again, I was lost. Cause when I touched my belly then, I was thinking, Harder than it is now? Like a watermelon or a rock? Is it supposed to be soft?
The doctor prescribed magnesium to accompany the iron I’m taking…and prenatals of course. The magnesium is to help stop the contractions since we don’t want Mack coming out just yet. My iron level is finally back where it was when I first got pregnant. Woohoo. Unfortunately, I kept contemplating the doctor’s questions about the contractions and I started to beat myself up. Probably something common for many first time moms – because honestly, how are we supposed to know what is “normal” with the first kid? And my doctor has been doing this for over 30 years so he isn’t phased by much of anything. Thankfully, I talked to my own mommy who assured me that she went through the same thing with me and that I need not worry. My doctor certainly didn’t seem concerned but it made me feel a bit like I had no idea what I’m doing here. I’m not going to argue that I have any real clue what I’m doing here, actually…but women must really have been crazed before things like the Internet and thousands of books on pregnancy came along. On the other hand, they probably just went to someone who had experienced it already and got a lot less freaked out about it all since it wasn’t all being sensationalized in the latest best seller.
Despite that moment of panic, I’ve been feeling mostly good the last couple weeks, although I do feel a bit of a drop in my energy level, which I think has a lot to do with the fact that I have heartburn all the time. Well maybe heartburn is a bad thing to call it. It’s more like a little foot jabbed under the right side of my rib cage. When I’m sitting for more than 10 minutes or driving/riding in the car, it pops up. I also have it a lot more often while I’m standing now. So I’m spending as much time laying on my left side as I can these days. Even using a laptop has become challenging…but it’s not much longer to go now.
We got Mackenzie’s furniture delivered on Monday. Very excited about that. Our closets came with that order also so we have a bunch of furniture assembly to do this weekend. Thank God we’re experienced IKEA junkies so after we get the bedroom rearranged a bit, the process should go fairly quickly.
I also ordered us a couple new books to get us thinking about the early stages of her development. One is Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygiene
Today I got Baby Hearts: A Guide to Giving Your Child an Emotional Head Start
And if you’re wondering how the hospital info night visits are going…they still aren’t. Last week we missed the one at our local hospital because Stefan had to go to London. I intended to drag him to a different hospital tonight but I drove by there yesterday while I was running errands and that place would be my last resort right now. The paint was peeling and quite frankly, it looks like the hospital has seen better days. So we will try to visit our preferred hospital again next week when they have their next info night…and hopefully I won’t hate the doctors or whatever.
