37 Week Check Up – ‘Full Term’

Yesterday I hit the 37 week mark, which means I’m officially full term – even though my due date is not until the 29th. Basically I’m far enough along now where Jude could be born with no complications, fully developed lungs, etc.

The check up started as normal. Blood pressure was good (still hanging around the 120/76 range), I’ve gained 2.5 pounds (in a week and a half! Eek! I swear their scales are off.), baby’s heart rate was fine (upper 130’s, low 140’s), uterus measuring fine, he moves regularly and the cultures they took last week came back negative (a good thing).

Then for the ‘fun’ part – the internal exam. After a little poking and prodding she determined there really hasn’t been any progress since last Monday. I’m still maybe a finger tip dilated and he’s still pretty high up (even though people keep insisting I’ve “really dropped!”). She did however say that my cervix was softening – which is something.

After the exam we discussed a few things:

1. She estimated (again, just an estimate) that I’ll probably be having a smaller-sized baby (low to upper 7 pounds).
2. She asked if I’ve been having any contractions and I told her I honestly don’t think I have (at least not any with any pain/cramping associated). There are times however when my stomach feels harder than usual and she said that if I were hooked up to a monitor this might register as a contraction – just a very minor one.

And then for the wake-up call part of the conversation:

I will (no matter what) be in the hospital to deliver by May 6th. They will not let me go past 41 weeks, so if I go in on Wednesday the 29th and there’s no progress they will schedule my induction for the following Tuesday or no later than that Wednesday (not sure why Tuesday in particular, but I think it had something to do with my doctor’s schedule – other wise I’d be using someone else in the practice).

In addition they said that if I go in on the 29th for a check up (still haven’t delivered), that I’d be scheduled for another Level 2 ultra sound to check the placenta and everything to make sure the baby is still getting everything he needs to get through the last week of waiting before induction.

All in all, the doctor seemed pretty impressed with my pregnancy so far. She said Ryan and I seemed to be some of the most relaxed first time parents she’s seen in awhile. She also said that even though I haven’t seen her each visit (there are lots of doctors to chose from in the practice) judging from my record and the times that she has seen me (I saw her the last three times), I should be happy with the way things are going. She said I was healthy to begin with and have done a good job of maintaining my weight and general health through out. SWEET!

Stay tuned for next Tuesday’s progress.