29 week checkup and entering a new chapter

Yesterday I had my 29 week check-up with Dr.N. Here are the stats from the appointment:

Baby Olsen's heartbeat: 140
Fundal height: 37 cm (still measuring way ahead which is good, mostly) ;0
My weight: 183 (gulp!)

We discussed a number of things during this appointment. First, after describing the aches/pains (and showed him the red itchy marks on my left hip), restless legs, and other symptoms that are causing me trouble day and night, Dr.N strongly recommended that I wrap up things at work. In the past he would just ask if I was ready to stop and I'd say no and we'd change the subject. This time I realized saying no wasn't a good idea as much as I wanted to. The pain in my hips gets worse each week because of the time I spend on my left side to get work done (being right handed means right hand must be free to work the mouse, etc.). I'm not sleeping well at night making the days that much harder to get through with the focus I'm accustomed to giving it. I need to start seeing a massage therapist a couple times a week and the visits to Dr.N will increase in frequency now. I asked him if I could have some time to tie up loose ends so we agreed that my last day of work should be May 23rd - which was 2.5 weeks away.

We talked about how helpful it has been to me to be able to work through the bed rest these past few months and about my fears of getting bored and depressed when I stop working. He reminded me that I will be working - but working on something else - something much more important - reading up on birthing and newborn care, researching and selecting baby equipment and pediatrician choices, and attending more frequent OB and perinatologist appointments for NST tests, baby growth/measurement assessments, and more. Then of course there is work to be done to prepare the house for the baby - the nursery, laundering the baby clothes, setting up the bassinet and the car seat -- things I can't do for myself but that I'll need to direct Bob and Dad to do before the cerclage is removed. It's the right thing to do now so that's the plan.

Naturally, the next topic was the cerclage removal procedure. At 36 weeks they'll do a final level 2 ultrasound to assess the baby's weight/size to ensure he's big enough to do well should he decide to appear immediately upon the removal of the stitches. If he's on the small side they will delay the procedure by a week. We are assuming he'll be big enough based on the size of my belly but that could be misleading so the ultrasound will be among the primary determining factors in that decision. When it is time to remove it, Dr.N will perform the procedure in his office and then they'll observe me for a while before sending me home. We will need to have everything ready before that appointment - including my hospital bag packed and in the car - because there's a good chance that the procedure will be enough cervical change to initiate labor. What's great is that once we're at that 36 mark we can definitely deliver at the closest hospital which doesn't have a NICU. If the baby decides to get feisty before we get to that point we'll have to travel 30 miles to another hospital (or go to our local one and be transported) since that's the closes NICU.

I asked him about the rhogam shot - when do I need another one since I had one at 17w following the cerclage surgery. Good thing I asked because the answer was "asap". I'm not sure why it's done this way but he called in a prescription to a special pharmacy and instructed me to pick it up and come back to the office today to have them administer the shot. So, we did that today.

Dr.N asked if we had chosen a pediatrician. Negative. He mentioned several in the area and some pros and cons about each and had the receptionist give me a small stack of business cards for the ones he had mentioned. He suggested going with a male doctor since the baby is a boy and when he gets older might be more comfortable being examined by a man. I had not even thought of that! Suddenly I realized, yes I do need some time to figure this stuff out. OMG there's so much to figure out that I didn't even realize needed to be figured out LOL.

Once finished at Dr.N's office I was sent across the way to the lab to have blood drawn for a CBC panel that the receptionist forgot to include on the lab order when I had my glucose test done. After my brief meeting with Miss Dracula, I was on my way.

In the car on the way home I cried a bit - I was sad that I'd be done working sooner than I expected but within a minute or two a wave of relief came over me as Dr.N's words replayed in my mind about all that I needed to do and focus on now for the baby. By the time I was home I was actually relieved about it because this means we're a giant step closer to bringing Baby Olsen home. I got on the phone with the HR department to notify them of the news and sent a note to my director so she'd be aware of the news and we could plan to discuss it this morning.

I called my mom and jokingly said "Um, once this baby is here, what the heck do I do with him!?" She had a really good laugh.