Week 37 and Baby Poll

Holy Moly!  We are almost to the end of this pregnancy...here is what I'm looking like these days.

When people ask how I'm getting along, my typical response is that I'm "hanging in there."  I don't feel bad, but I don't feel great.  The baby has really slowed down on its movement in the last week, and I have slowed down as well!  I am having contractions here and there, and I'm having quite a bit of back pain.  I'm also experiencing pain/pressure in my upper inner thighs (sorry if that's too much info), but I don't remember this same pain/pressure with the other pregnancies.  I started feeling this particular pain while at the Kentucky Fair, but then it went away after 2-3 days.  Then, other day my foot slipped out from under me when I stepped on the garage floor with a somewhat wet shoe.  I didn't do the splits, but it was the start of them.  I was able to catch myself, but it definitely flared up this pain again.

Last week, at my check-up, I saw the Nurse Practitioner, Ashley, because Dr. Alvey was on vacation.  Ashley did the Strep Group B test (and I found out today that it came back negative).  She also checked my progress, and said that my cervix was beginning to soften, but she would not call it dilated to a 1.  She also made no mention of effacement.  

Today, I had my weekly check up with Dr. Alvey.  She checked me and said that I was dilated to a 1 or 1.5, and that I was 60% effaced.  She also brought up the topic of induction, and how I felt about it.  I said that we (Doug and I) have no objections to being induced...seeing as the first 3 all came that way!  Dr. Alvey did say that she can't induce labor before 39 weeks, so we still have 2 weeks before we can consider that route.

Lastly, while Dr. Alvey was checking the heartbeat of the baby, it was rather fast.  It was up around and above 180 beats/min.  Typically the baby's heart rate has been around 150.  Dr. Alvey listened for a bit longer, and it didn't really slow down.  She ordered for me to have a non-stress test where I was hooked up to a monitor for about 20 minutes to record the heart rate and movement.  During that time, the baby's heart rate had returned to normal.  The monitor even showed I had a contraction during the test! 

I did feel like I was on Jeopardy, because I had this cool little button to push each time I felt the baby move.

Alright...So, enough of that...

I did dig out a particular shirt this morning for my 37 week picture!  I had to wear it to give you all a good comparison of each pregnancy.

With that...I'm going to open up the Baby Poll!

Here's how you play...

1) Click on the comment link at the end of this post
2) Take a guess at what day Number 4 will arrive
3) Take a guess at what Number 4's length will be
4) Take a guess at what Number 4's weight will be
5) Finally, take a guess if Number 4 is a boy or girl!

Make sure to leave your name, especially if you don't have a blog log in name.

Here's how you can play if you don't have a log in: Leave your guesses, and then select the "button" for either -Name/URL or -Anonymous.

If you choose -Name/URL, then just type your name in the name box...You can leave the URL box blank.

Here are some helpful tips when thinking of your guesses. My due date is Oct. 7, and this has changed.  I originally thought I was due at the end of October.  With Julianne, my due date was Dec. 5, and did not changed during the pregnancy.  She was born on Dec. 6th - by induction.  Julianne weighed 7 lb 12 oz and was 21 in long.  With Reba, my due date was Nov. 19th and did not changed during the pregnancy. She was born on Nov. 17th - by induction.  Reba weighed 7 lb 4 oz and was 20 in long.  With Dallas my due date was originally March 24th, then it was moved to March 4th. Dallas arrived March 11th - by induction. Dallas weighed 8 lb 8 oz and was 21.5 in long.

Until next time...