37 weeks

Yesterday, that is.

And what a day it was!  Chiro in the morning (uneventful as always), midwife in the afternoon (likewise), and Cara, Rob, and Rafa arrived in Austin at about 7 last night!  Woohoo!  I think they may have a little bit of too-much-driving PTSD, but they looked like they weathered the trip well, nevertheless.  My kids were bouncing off the walls when they got here-- Mariela was acting like she was on speed.  But I hope they got settled in last night and are catching up on sleep.  The house they're staying with comes with a full zoo of animals to take care of, so I'm wishing them luck with that.

So, moving backwards-- midwife appointment.  Maybe the most noteworthy part is that my fundal height is *still* 34 cm.  Just been hanging out there since 34 weeks.  The baby is still growing well, so it's not really a concern-- just interesting.  My pulse was crazy high yesterday too (100?!), but they decided maybe it was because I was hot?  We've finally hit the 100+ temperatures around here.  I took my pulse this morning when I was dealing with a stressful situation at work and it was 80, so that's not crazy.  At home, when Rick checks, it's been around 70.  I don't know why it's always higher when Monika checks it.  Baby's heartrate was about 140 and he's still headdown, as he should be.  They said his head is heavy enough at this point that he should stay that way.  My blood pressure is still low (100/70-ish) and everything else is looking good.

I don't think I've mentioned here that I tested positive for Group B Strep-- I found out on Friday.  Group B Strep is present in most people, on and off.  About 1 in 4 women are positive before or at delivery.  In adults, it's generally asymptomatic.  If it colonizes in a newborn, though, it can be very serious.  Transmission is rare, even when the woman delivering tests postive, but it's obviously a risk we don't want to take.  The CDC recommends giving IV penicillin every 4 hours during labor and that will be our fallback position.  However, since the IV is not 100% effective and, in an ideal world, I'd prefer to skip it anyway, I'm trying to do what I can to snuff out the GBS in the next week or so and then reculture to see if I test negative-- that would be best for everyone.  So I'm taking immune boosters (vitamin C, echinacea, propalis, probiotics), I've cut out all refined sugar and carbs from my diet (and cut back on sugars in general-- fruit/dairy/etc.), and I'm using Hibiclens every few days-- all of which has anecdotal support for eradciating the little buggers.  Fingers crossed.  I think we'll reculture on 8/10, which should get us results by 8/13, still allowing for my "chosen" delivery date of 8/15.

In any case, one of the best ways to reduce the risk of transmission is water birth.  Have I mentioned that I have a big inflatable pool hanging out in my dining room right now?  Bonus!

So all of that sounds like more of an update than it feels like.  As far as I'm concerned, everything is still going great.  Baby boy is kicking away right now-- has been all morning.  I have a busy work week-- a speech this afternoon and then a conference in San Antonio Wednesday through Friday.  Rick will be with me in San Antonio, ready to drive me home at a moment's notice (it's only about an hour's drive), but I'm still feeling like labor is not imminent.  I have been having many more braxton hicks contractions, though-- pretty much anytime I stand up and start walking.  And I walk slooooowly these days.  Especially today, in heels.

So that's it for now.  I don't expect to update until next Monday, but I'm willing to be proven wrong!

Comments

[Jennifer Carvalho-Salemi]

[this is good]

Simi,

I love your new blog. Much better! I would try to log on to the other one from time to time, but I gave up since I often couldn't log on.

Anyways, it's been wonderful catching up. Your excerpts are always heartwarming.

Blessings.:)