{37 weeks} + 37 week appointment

I've made it! Officially full-term, which means...."hey, Dec. Anytime you're ready." ;)


I also had my 37 week appointment this morning, since my doctor moved up my weekly appointments from the normal Thursday to Monday's now. It really wasn't that eventful, which is both a blessing and a curse because obviously I want SOMETHING to happen here soon.


Weight gain - I'm up 2lbs since my last appointment at 35.5 weeks. Altogether I've gained 27lbs, which isn't that bad for 37 weeks. At this point I stopped gaining with C, but this is where I gained a ton with Em. So we shall see who's pregnant footsteps we follow. As of right now, I'm about 6lbs lighter than I was with Connor, so that definitely makes me feel good. I'm still measuring about 2 weeks behind when he measures my uterus. My doctor isn't worried at all, especially since it's still growing. At 33 weeks I was suddenly measuring 30 weeks, so I've actually gained 5cm in a 4 week period. So, growing. :) At this point I am expecting a pretty average baby in terms of size. My guess is around the 7-7.5lb range.


Movement - Definitely, although he does seem to have some pretty good sleep patterns going on. There are periods where I feel nothing. Usually about the time I start prodding him he wakes up and gets to groovin' in there. He was moving a ton while Dr. S was listening to his heartbeat (148). It was so cute just listening to him rolling around in there. He also likes to turn from side to side. It's amusing watching his little booty go from my right to my left, but it's also a slight bummer since that means he's probably not that engaged into my pelvis yet. Little dude needs to move DOWN.


Signs of Labor - This is where it gets interesting. According to my cervix check this morning, I'm at a 1cm, but still pretty thick. So things are slowly moving in the right direction. After my appointment me, my mom, and the kids went out to lunch, went to C's doc appointment (more on that in a bit) and then went to the mall in the hope I'd find something for me to wear at the hospital. At C's appointment I had a pretty intense contraction. Like, I couldn't move my legs for a second because there was so much pressure! It didn't happen again so I didn't think much of it. Then at the mall I started getting this stitch in my side, one that I had also experienced last night. Very similar to how your side will hurt after a run (not that I do much running..lol). Anyway, I suddenly felt a little wetness and thought it was probably just the normal, heavier discharge that comes with being 9mo pregnant. I went ahead and went to the bathroom to check it out. Come to find out, I was spotting. Not bright red blood, but sort of orangish brown and it was thick and stringy (TMI, I know). That was around 3pm or so this afternoon. As of now, at almost 9:30 at night it's still continuing. Sometimes it looks a bit mucousy which makes me think maybe I am losing my mucous plug. But there's also a good chance it's just from my cervical check from this morning. So who knows. I do feel a bit more crampy tonight, but again, I've had a very busy day so that's to be expected.


Irritation Fear this week - this week it has nothing to do with baby #3 and is all about baby #2. Last Thursday, after our play date at a friends house, I noticed that both kids were ate up with bug bites from playing out behind my friends house. I didn't think that much of it, since bug bites are like a right of passage in the summer. I also noticed that C had a weird black (??) cut on his leg, but again, really didn't dwell on it. Friday the cut looked a little red around it. Saturday it was starting to swell on his leg and by Saturday night besides the redness and swelling, he also had a rash around it and going up his leg. He also seemed to have some poison ivy or something on his arms. I kept antibacterial cream on it as much as I could but on Sunday I knew I'd be taking him in to get it checked today. The black scab was pretty much gone, but the cut wasn't getting any better and it seemed to have some clear/yellowish drainage along parts of it (as well as looking sort of yellow inside the wound). So I made an appointment as soon as they opened this morning and before we left for my own appointment. The doctor studied it for a bit, cleaned it some, and finally said she was pretty sure that was a staph infection called impetigo. Since the cut did have a yellowish appearance and with the rash surrounding it and going up the leg, she was fairly confident that's what it was. She said at one point "I wouldn't feel right sending you home with nothing to treat this" so my boy is now on an antibiotic cream, plus oral antibiotics. I'm hoping to see some improvement by the end of the week or I will be going back, because I am the parent who always thinks "what if the diagnosis was wrong?!" She never mentioned it being contagious, but a quick google search tells me it is, especially from child to child. So after looking Emma over, I'm pretty sure she has a small spot of it beside her mouth (which is the most common place for it). I'm going to use regular antibiotic cream for it tonight and then call tomorrow to make sure she can go ahead and use the prescription cream as well. Hopefully we can get this all cleared up before baby #3 gets here! My gut feeling of poison ivy on his arms was also right. The doctor thinks what happened was that he got the scratch while playing and probably got some poison ivy in the wound, along with the staph. She said a mixture of things that made him get the infection. I keep joking that I am going to call my friend tomorrow and tell her I'm burning down her yard since that's where it all started. ;)


So yeah, I'll be staring obsessively at my 2yr's leg (and my 5yr olds chin) all week long until they heal. ;)


I am definitely feeling a lot more crampy tonight and keep getting some mild contractions. Not that really hurt my stomach, but ones that are giving me some nice pressure "down below". So here's hoping each one is helping me dilate just that much more. My doc did say as he was leaving "I'll see you in one week...unless I see you before that" so at least he wasn't all "I will see you next Monday, because girl, you are not CLOSE to labor...lol".