35.5 weeks update...with pics

Thanks for all of your thoughts about last names. Great food for thought. Will and I will continue to discuss and we'll let you know what we decide on : )

In other news, the most well-monitored fetus in NYC continues to do well. She passed this week's biophysical profile with flying colors and she did well at her non-stress test today as well.

I'm now on 7 units of insulin...an amount that seems to be steadily creeping upward as my pregnancy progresses. At some point (maybe soon?), I'm told my insulin needs will stabilize but so far, my fasting numbers look ok for a bit but then start rising again, necessitating another insulin increase.

I've been switched over to heparin from the lovenox I was previously taking. It was a bit of a fiasco - first because my doctor didn't specify a dose (the Rx read "take 1 dose twice a day"), and then because the pharmacy dispensed heparin preserved in benzyl alcohol. According to the FDA, this preservative is contraindicated in pregnancy as well as for infants and pediatric patients, something my OB says she had never heard of (Oops!). So this took some monkeying around, but I am now on a preservative-free version. The heparin is a lot of liquid volume - or feels like it anyway - compared to the lovenox, but the needle (an insulin needle) is smaller and easier to deal with, which is nice. The 12 hour administration schedule is a bit of a drag but no big deal really.

I saw the OB this week, and will do so weekly for the duration. She checked my cervix and said it is high and closed but softening. Baby has not yet descended. She will check me for Group B Strep next week, and in the meantime I'm on a garlic protocol that my doula says will make it less likely I'll test positive. Google it if you want...it's a bit gross to me, not to mention pungent, but hey, if it works... And this may not affect Group B Strep, but at the very least I'm assured I'll have no vaginal vampires : )

Still hanging in there else-wise. I am starting to really slowdown and my legs are really uncomfortable and crampy, it seems no matter what I do. I am supplementing with magnesium and calcium, getting massages from Will, and soaking them in a hot bath at night. This part of my body will so appreciate this child being born!

We are busy still trying to get Ms. Magpie's room all cleared out so that she can have her own furniture, clothes, and decorations. Five years of infertility have made what was once deemed the nursery quite the storage room. But we're getting there! And in the meantime getting the rest of the apartment super organized as well. When you live in a very small space, you have to be very thoughtful about how much to keep and where to put it!

Here is the babe this week, in 3-D. I wonder if seeing all these pics will help me recognize her better when she comes?

Magpie at 34 weeks 4 days, her hand up at her mouth

Mo

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