Ready or not....

.... here she comes!!!

(34w6d pregnant)

Mark and I had our first OB appt with our new dr here in AZ, Dr. Branaman. I was nervous before hand, but as our appt time got closer, I got less nervous. Kinda weird. My blood pressure wasn't even THAT high! Only 138/87 or something like that. At my first appt in OK it was like 169/98... Noticeable difference. Anyway, our new dr is a female and she's probably in her mid-30's. We really liked her. I told her I was planning on trying to have a natural birth, and she was all for that. She said that unless it's absolutely medically necessary, she won't intervene at all, and the only thing she asks is that I get the hep-lock (the IV port) put in as soon as I get to the hospital in case something does go wrong and they need to give me IV meds asap. But she said I don't have to be hooked up to an IV machine, or a fetal monitor the whole time, and I can stay as mobile as I'd like if everything goes fine. She's also open to using other birthing positions, such as squatting, kneeling or side-birthing. So we were very encouraged by what we heard from her. She also asked that we do a birth plan so she knows exactly what we'd like to get out of the birth experience, which was a pleasant surprise for us. We were kind of under the impression that many dr's and nurses kind of think, "Oh, she's one of THOSE people" when you give them your plan, and roll their eyes, and set it aside. So I was impressed that she actually cared enough to ask us to do one.

Then came the surprise.... All during this pregnancy, I haven't really had any internal exams done, with the exception of our first appt - they did the vaginal ultrasound bc she was too little to do the normal kind. So I was expecting her to do an exam on me, since I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow. What neither of us was even remotely prepared for, was the dr saying "You're already 3 cm dilated and I can feel about an inch diameter circle of the top of her head." ...... Um... WHAT?!!? I still have 5 weeks to go! I thought people don't get 3 cm's dilated until they've been in labor for hours already??? I'm not ready for this!!! Okay, actually I am, and in a weird way, after we both got over the initial shock of what she said, it made me feel more prepared for what's ahead of us. Dr. B told us that her head is fully engaged in the birth canal, and when she pushed on the top of her head, she didn't budge an inch. (She said normally at this stage they'll bounce up and down a little bit, but our blueberry wasn't moving.) She also said that once I'm past 36 weeks, if I go into labor they won't stop it bc they feel like all the medicine's they have to give you aren't worth the risk to the baby. She also said that babies who are born at 36 weeks, about 80-85% of them go home with you when you're discharged from the hospital, and at 37 weeks, that percentage goes up to 90-95%. Dr. B said it was a little surprising I was already 3 cm's dilated since this is our first baby, but she also said that it's conducive to the natural birth we want and she wasn't worried about it at all. She predicted that Abbie will be at least a week or two early, so we shall see. My next appt is in a week, and our doula, Julie, is going to that with us, and then for a tour of the hospital afterwards.

So I guess it's time to start thinking about packing her (and our) bag for the hospital. We just got her bedroom furniture this afternoon, so Mark's already upstairs putting it all together. Hopefully her travel system will be here in the next day or two.

It's all so exciting, and a little scary, but we're ready for this.

He likes to sit on my belly now. I think he knows something's up bc he's been even more needy than usual lately.