Week 33

With Darling Daughter #2: With Natalie:
I had my 33 week appointment yesterday with Dr. Gunter. Given that my pregnancy has thankfully been low key and I've worked out my approach to VBAC vs. c/s, my appointments are pretty quick. He checked for her heartbeat with the Doppler (140 bpm), measured my fundal height (on track for 33 weeks) and confirmed that she is head down right now. He said everything looked good. I also got my seasonal flu shot during my appointment but will need to wait on H1N1 since they didn't have any available. I also saw Nurse Hilbert last Thursday; I was pretty sick with a cold last week. She put me on an antibiotic since it appeared like it was leaning towards bronchitis. I'm feeling much better now.

I got together with some other mothers last Wednesday for a Mom's-night-out dinner. They surprised me with a homemade cake that said Baby on it (made by Marie!), cupcakes from Callie and a few gifts for the baby from Callie (a dress) and Jen (a board book). It was very sweet of them and totally a surprised! We had a great time hanging out and chit chatting.

The baby is constantly punching and kicking me. It feels very different than it did with Natalie since the punches are all along my pelvic area -- it feels a little weird when she does it. I'm glad she's so active though. I am starting to get a little bit of the crotch pain that I got last time; however, it's no where near how it was before. Mostly I feel a little sore when I stand up from sitting or laying for too long. And I can feel it when I roll over. I have to support my belly with a pillow pretty much all the time now when I'm laying on my side unless my belly is resting directly on the bed or couch. Although I took my rings off a few weeks ago, I can still wear my middle finger ring and my engagement ring without it being too tight yet. I definitely can not wear my wedding band -- it feels so uncomfortable and hard to get on and off. Overall, my pregnancy is going great. We're looking forward to meeting our little girl soon!

Because of the swine flu (H1N1) that is going around, Rex Hospital has a new policy that anyone under 18 is not allowed in the hospital unless being admitted so this means we can not have Natalie come up to visit me and the baby after delivery. I'm sad about this as I always envisioned her getting to meet her little sister in the hospital with us. I'm slightly worried about being gone a few days and then just showing up at home with a new baby - that she might not react well to this but we're thinking we might have her at least come to the lobby when we are getting checked out. That way she can see the baby and me at the hospital and we can all drive home together. I suppose one good thing about her not coming up to the hospital is that she won't have to deal with separation anxiety of seeing me for a little while and then having to leave again while I stay there. Also, if I have a c-section, she wouldn't be able to climb all over me like I'm sure she would want to once she sees me.

Our little girl is probably about 4.5 to 5 lbs now. She will gain more than half her birth weight in the next seven weeks. She'll begin to move less now as she runs out of room and curls up with knees bent, chin resting on chest and arms and legs crossed. At this point, the amniotic fluid is at the highest level in the pregnancy. The amount will remain constant until delivery. Rapid brain growth has increased the baby's head size approximately 3/8 of an inch this week. Fat continues to accumulate which turns the baby's skin color from red to pink.