38 weeks belly picture

Ever bigger! Ever more uncomfortable! But still pregnant at 38 weeks, 1 day.

Mo and Will and Magpie in fall foliage at 38 weeks 1 day

As the Cervix Turns

A little newsy update this morning.

I just saw my OB.

I am now 70% effaced and the doctor said that although I am not dilated, she was able to put her finger inside my cervix (tiny bit ouchy!), so it is really soft. Baby has moved down to a -2 station (from -3), so a little further down.

I'm definitely feeling like things are happening down in my pelvic region. A bit crampy, a lot of pressure, sometimes a clicking sound and feeling when I bear down (my geriatric pelvis trying to figure out how to open a bit? - I imagine it like a creaky, unoiled gate.)

Unfortunately, I tested as Group B Strep positive despite doing the somewhat yucky garlic protocol that my doula recommended, so I will be getting antibiotics when I'm in labor.

Today the OB said the absolute latest she'll let me go before inducing is my due date (and this is of course assuming everything looks good with baby's biophysical profiles and non-stress tests). She's on call that weekend, which would be much nicer than having a different doctor I don't know as well. She'd previously been saying 39 weeks for induction, so 40 weeks now sounds like such a reprieve! Funny, it's all about perspective!

Glucose numbers look good, she said. So that's a phew.

Biophysical profile later today...hoping Magpie passes as usual with flying colors!

Mo


Click here to subscribe

Full term and full steam ahead!

As of Saturday, I am 37 weeks.

Wow. Still unbelievable.

Little Miss Baby is doing well. She measured in at 6 pounds, 5 ounces at her growth scan on Wednesday, which I believe is around the 50th %ile. She passed her biophysical profile, no sweat. She aced two additional non-stress tests. She is almost as good of a test taker as her mama! She remains head down, facing to the right (right occiput anterior position). Perfect position to be born.

So Magpie is doing great.

I, however, am unbelievably tired.

Bone tired.

A tired that sleeping doesn't seem to solve (I should know. I slept over 12 hours Saturday night and then napped another two hours Sunday.)

I am starting to be fairly uncomfortable physically. When Magpie moves, I can feel it between my legs, which is a strange, strange sensation. It is difficult to get up now from a reclining position. And I look super goofy getting out of the bathtub or off of the floor. I have gained 18 pounds, so not so much, but my goodness, I have more and more in common with a beached marine mammal as the days tick by.

This is it. The full monty of late pregnancy.

I am so, so lucky to be here. Can't believe I am here. Can't believe still that we are about to be parents. Can't believe I will ever be comfortable again. Can't believe how fortunate we are. Truly. My gosh.

In addition to grateful and tired, I am swamped, thoroughly swamped, both at home and at work.

At work I still have a few patients I am trying to get safely and conscientiously transferred. I had expected this to be taken care of by now...but the wheels are turning slower than I would like. I give my last presentation next Friday and am annoyed I got roped into yet another public speaking event this close to my delivery. It should be fine, but I could do without the stress. I am busy training two junior people to take over some of my clinical and research workload. I am also still trying to get three writing projects done and out the door (two chapters and a peer-reviewed article) and get all my charting finished and my office clean as a whistle. Not to mention emails telling my colleagues where everything is and what stage everything is in so that when I need to bow out, they can pick up the pieces.

The homefront is edging closer to ready but is not there yet. Will and I have gone through and pared down dramatically almost everything we own to try to make space for the baby. Space is so tight here - 1,000 square feet fills up so fast! It is like we are moving, except that we haven't actually gone anywhere. We have gone through everything and gotten rid of or given away a massive amount, and it's amazing how much we've accumulated in the 6 years we have lived in this apartment.

Nursery-wise, we finally have a crib and changing table. Some wonderful friends have sent hand-me-downs so that Magpie won't be naked. We have received a few gifts as well, that are all so adorable. I have gotten out a bag that will be my hospital bag, but I haven't packed it. Someone is coming to complete painting Magpie's room tomorrow (I hope).

I don't expect to finish everything at work or at home before her arrival...but I will do my best.

My insulin needs keep creeping up. I am now on 10 units NPH at night, but expect them to increase the dosage again this week as my fasting levels remain higher than they want (higher than 90). I see the OB weekly now, in addition to geting one biophysical profile and two non-stress tests. It's a lot, but I am glad both baby and I are being carefully monitored. The OB is now saying she wants Ms. Magpie to arrive between 39 and 40 weeks because of combo of the insulin-dependent diabetes and the thrombophilia issues...which seems awfully soon, and sounds like it will likely mean an induction...something I had really hoped to avoid. She told me we will pick a date soon to hasten her arrival if she isn't here yet, but I am dragging my feet. I would so prefer to do this the natural way if Magpie and I can safely do so.

The OB this week did a cervical check and said that I am 50% effaced. (Maybe this is why I can feel Magpie between my legs now when she moves?) No dilation yet. Miss Magpie is at a -3 station...so she has a long way to go to move down into my pelvis.

So just moving along. But moving ever more slowly at this stage in the pregnancy! Trying to get done all that needs to get done.

Sorry for the silence. I've been a bit overwhelmed. But I'm so glad you all are out there. It means a lot. We are almost there!

Mo

Click here to subscribe

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

Click here to subscribe

What's in a name?

 

Will and I have been working hard to come up with an official name for Magpie. We have a short list of first names, mostly based on family names across the generations. We have two runners up, either of which would make a fine first name, we think. I expect we will decide soon(ish) on it. And I think we are in close agreement.

The bigger problem is with her LAST name(s).

Will and I do not share a last name. I was in my mid-thirties when we married and already extensively published under my maiden name, and beyond that, my name felt, well, like mine, and I didn't want to give it up or feel any need to do so. And so I kept it. And now I have twice as many publications and my psychology license all in my original name.

Will has his own name, of course. Which he is rather attached to. And he has also published and has his medical license under his name.

And now awesomely, unbelievably, here comes Magpie.  

And we have to figure out what her last name will be.

Will has apparently always assumed that our child's last name would be his last name. And I assumed we would do something more egalitarian.

The three "more egalitarian" options are:

(1) Magpie Mo'slastname Will'slastname (with Mo as one of, or the only, middle names)

(2) Magpie Mo'slastname Will'slastname (both as last names, but no hyphen)

(3) Magpie Mo'slastname-Will'slastname (hyphenated)

or (less egalitarian)

(4) Magpie gets Will's last name and my last name is left off entirely.

We briefly considered all three of us hyphenating and having the same last name, but I don't think Will is willing to do this, so it's a no go. It would be a major hassle anyway, honestly.

Some of the practical considerations are:

(1) What name combo will make traveling (especially internationally) easier? Will having my last name as a middle name or as one of the last names help, especially if Magpie and I ever travel alone?

(2) What name combo will make education easier? Will having my last name as a middle or last make it clearer to teachers who I am, what role I play for Magpie, etc.?

Emotional considerations include:

(1) Is a hyphenated name or compound last name weird or burdensome for a kid to have to carry around? (Will thinks so.) Will my kid be the only NYC kid with a hyphenated or compound name? Our last names, by the way, are two syllables each, and 13 characters in total (including a hyphen if we used one, so not so long)

(2) Would a hyphenated or compound name, on the other hand, help convey to our daughter her heritage that stems from both of us and our extended families?

We are somewhat at an impasse on this, with Will wanting to go the conventional route, and me not so sure.

So we are curious, what do you guys think? Those who are parents and have a different last name from your spouse/partner, how did you make your decision on your child's last name? And what about your kid's friends? How many of them have a dual last name (either hyphenated or not?)

Really trying to be thoughtful here and welcome  your thought process on this (whether you're a mom yet or not!)

Mo


Click here to subscribe