Thursday's Doctor Appointments

On Thursday I had another appointment with the Perinatologist. They did another ultrasound. At this point, the baby's bones are starting to calcify, so they cast shadows on everything. They weren't able to see much, but they did measure the usual things like his head, belly, femur, etc. They could still see his stomach and bladder, and my fluid levels are still fine. According to the measurements, they estimated him to be about 7 lbs 1 oz. I am 37 weeks along today, and he's already 7 lbs! That means he's measuring about a week ahead of schedule, which isn't really a huge difference.
The Perinatologist said to go ahead and deliver here. The NICU and Neonatologists know about the situation, and will be ready to stabilize him if necessary. She told me to remind people when I deliver that he could have a problem, because everyone tends to get excited when a baby is born, and they may forget.
One thing that they discovered during the ultrasound is that he's breach! The naughty bob flipped since the last ultrasound a month ago. She said to take lots of walks and he should turn back how he should be, since he was sideways, which isn't a position babies tend to stay in. His head was on the right, his back was up, his bum was on the left, and his hands and feet were together, down. He was grabbing his feet with his hands, and it was cute.


They weren't able to get a picture of his profile nor could they get a 3D picture, because there wasn't much fluid around his head (perfectly normal at this point). I also have a big pocket of fluid at the bottom, so that should help him flip the right direction as well. Now I just have to muster up the energy for some walks.
Tangent: Both of my doctors are pregnant, too! How funny!
After the ultrasound, I did a non-stress test (NST). They had me sit in the most comfortable chair in the world. I could have sat there all day. Then they strapped a heartbeat monitor onto my tummy, and a uterus monitor below it (like how they do when you're in labor, I guess). Then all I had to do was sit there and relax. Best medical procedure EVER. On the screen they had a red line where his heartbeat was (how many beats per minute, not showing each beat), and a blue line to show uterus activity.
The idea is that if the baby moves, his heart rate should go up, which means he his getting enough oxygen from the placenta. If I have a contraction, the heart rate should stay about the same. Well, the baby moved a few times during the 25 minute test, and his heart rate did go up when he moved.
Also, turns out I had like 4 contractions while I was sitting there. I'm pretty sure they're the Braxton Hicks kind, because they don't hurt at all. My tummy would just get tight, which I thought was the baby pushing out on my tummy all this time. Now that I saw exactly which was which, I can tell the difference. During a few of the contractions, his heart rate slowed some, but during others, it stayed about the same. From those results they can tell that the placenta is still doing its job, but it may be slowly losing its functionality, which makes sense, since I'm 37 weeks pregnant (aka: 8 1/2 months).
I'll be having two doctor appointments per week from here on out. I have another OB appointment on Monday, where they'll probably check for dilation, and if the baby is still breach, they may schedule me for an appointment to have the doctors try to turn him. I'm really really really really really really really really really hoping that he turns before then, because the appointment would involve me getting an iv, a shot to the uterus to numb it, a heart monitor on my belly, and a C-section room prepped, just in case. I'm not a fan of those things.
My next NST is next Thursday. I'm super excited to sit in that comfy chair again!
All the results on Thursday made me a bit scared that he might actually come early, which I hadn't really considered much before. I haven't even packed my hospital bag yet!!! "Don't stress out, Sarah, he'll come when he comes..."