Pregnancy report

The week is chugging right along!

Yesterday I had a chiropractor appointment. I think she managed to pop every joint in my spine!! It's been years since I've seen a chiropractor, and I've always been one who wishes that I could spontaneously adjust my own bones, when I start feeling achy. She did get quite a bit of movement out of the right side of my hip, she said. I don't notice any immediate changes in pain, but they became pretty minimal anyway. I go in for a follow-up on Thursday.

My clever volunteer-to-bring-soup-to-Relief-Society idea didn't bring on a baby. I went and enjoyed the evening out. And endured yet a million more questions on whether I'm ready to have this baby yet, and why is it that I want a homebirth, anyway? I feel absolutely silly when I say, "Actually, no, I'd rather wait to have the baby until the weekend, there's too much going on that I'd have to cancel this week if I had the baby any earlier than that! And let's not forget getting those other kids healthy before we add a 3rd to the mix!" And so I've taken to just smiling and saying, "Sure, any day now!" And why do I want a homebirth? I could probably spend half an hour telling you why, and it's hard to find a short answer that satisfies people. So that question really has been annoying me. Oh, and the best - "How are you feeling?" Um....PREGNANT. Very very pregnant. At least that one is both honest and makes people laugh. ;) Okay, but the night, aside from all the questions, really was nice. Except for the fact that the kids were still awake when I got home. Sigh.

By the way, Jacob came down with a fever yesterday. I thought he felt a little warm in the morning, but didn't think much of it. However, after spending a while on the couch watching a show, he got up and his cheeks were just absolutely flushed. I did my best to take his temperature, and it came out 101.2, despite not being under his tongue the entire time because he didn't like it and wouldn't cooperate. He was still very hot when he went to sleep last night. He's acting much better this morning, and his appetite is back. Hopefully, the fever won't resurface later in the day....

I also had a dermatologist appointment to take care of that blood-blister-like thing on my finger. I was reminded that the technical name for it is a Pyogenic Granuloma. Commonly called a "pregnancy tumor", and can occur in about 5% of pregnancies, usually on the hands or in the mouth (ugh!??). It was a quick appointment, just as I had expected, since I've done this before (but apparently he didn't have it in my records...how odd...). He first numbed it, which hurt like CRAZY!!!!!, and then dug it out with a sharp instrument, and cauterized the feeding blood vessel. Nothing like hearing and smelling the burning of your own flesh. Ew. Melinda wanted to see it when I got back home. I told her it was very ugly (it is a large burnt pit in my finger, after all), but she still wanted to see it. As soon as I took off the band aid to show it to her, she gets a horrified look on her face, and practically yells "Put it back on!!!!" Interestingly, I found out just now that often times, these granulomas will spontaneously heal after the delivery. Maybe I should have waited it out instead of getting an ugly volcano crater burnt into my finger. But it was getting freakishly annoying and bled really easily.

And of course, my 39 week prenatal visit. Over the past few days, I've had a slight increase of swelling. I noticed my ring starting to get pretty tight, so I took it off and put it away last night. And my socks are definitely leaving lines in my skin after I take them off. Near my toes is the slightest bit puffy. Ankles are still perfectly visible as of right now! But the increased swelling combined with my blood pressure caused some initial concern at today's appointment. The first reading was 138/98 or something like that (I can never remember blood pressure numbers very well). My normal has been closer to 110/70's. They had me lay on my left side for a while, then took my blood pressure while laying down. That reading was 94/48, ridiculously low compared to the other reading. When I made a comment, Evelyn did say that they've never taken my blood pressure while laying down before, and it does make a pretty big difference when you're pregnant, I guess. We also took one more blood pressure reading at the end of the appointment, and it was much closer to normal - 118/78 or something. So I don't know why the first reading was so high, but I'm glad they took the time to keep checking. However, I am supposed to keep an eye on my swelling and report if it gets noticeably worse, or if I start having headaches, etc.

I'm also supposed to be eating more protein and making sure I get lots of water. I've been a bit bad on both counts over the last couple weeks.

I asked Evelyn to guess the baby's weight just for fun. She said, "And that won't put you off?" (assuming she meant, if the baby seems big...) No, I assured her, I'd be fine with a big baby. She guessed that the baby is very very close to 9 pounds right now. And honestly, that's what I've guessed myself. She easily identified the location of the head, back and feet. She said that the baby's head is very low, basically "right there". Also, I apparently had a contraction while she was feeling the baby from my stomach. I had absolutely NO sensation of tightening or anything. So who knows, maybe I have been having Braxton Hicks contractions, and I just haven't been noticing them at all. Baby also kicked quite a few times while we were listening to the heartbeat.

She said that if I want to, I can take some Evening Primrose Oil (an herbal supplement that basically ripens the cervix) on a daily basis. I may pick some up after my chiro appointment tomorrow if it still seems like nothing is happening.

But between the baby's head being so low, the full moon being on Friday, and me being very close to my due date now, and the fact that Melinda was only 4 days over, and Jacob was 4 days under my due date .... I think I'd be quite surprised (and very annoyed) if the baby didn't come within the next week. Still rooting for an Easter baby - BUT I wouldn't mind going into labor anytime after tomorrow's chiro appointment. ;)