Rowan is down, and the big kids are up playing with duplo in the loft. I’m on the couch, sipping a latte, listening to the wind, blogging. Its a quiet day. We had an incredibly early start, and all of the kids are in rough shape already. So I sit down here quietly and they play up there quietly, and we try to interact as little as possible. So far, its working.
We all went to my 32 week prenatal appointment at 9:45 this morning. We met Brady at the clinic and were called in right away. I’ve been feeling suspicious over the last couple of weeks that a surprise is coming. I honestly don’t know what I’m waiting for, but my gut has been telling me I needed to ask. So I babbled through my appointment about some weird instinct/gut feeling I was having, and that I was a bit nervous. My student doctor asked for details, and of course, it took me quite a while to gather any info from my unreliable memory. I finally made her a rough list.
I am feeling LARGE. LARGE. A month ago, at my appointment, I had grown like crazy, and it showed in my measurements. I feel like I am larger still, and considerably less mobile.
I am TIRED. I know I’m more than allowed to be tired and feel run down, but I could flop down and nap at any moment, and I’ve never been like that. Ever. Not in pregnancy, not freshly postpartum, not in daily life with three little ones. Never. I feel like an animal who is about to deliver their young. Like right before they deliver.
I have sooo many contractions. Not painful ones necessarily, just braxton hicks, but they go up HIGH and they are SOLID. I don’t notice them until I bump my belly into something, or touch it mindlessly, or rest something on it, and it is rock hard. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but that s EXACTLY how I laboured with Rowan. I was induced in the hospital, contracting like mad, rock solid belly all the way up, and felt no discomfort with it whatsoever. So noticing it happen more and more is a bit ominous.
Basically, to sum it up, I feel full term. VERY full term. I shared these things with my student doctor and she took it all in, but also had lots of reasons for things. I’m iron deficient, so thats something that plays a role in fatigue at least. Also, its my fourth baby, yes yes, I know. Things like that. I was kind of annoyed, but curious to see how the rest of the appointment would go.
I gained less than two pounds, and my measurements hardly changed, so I am back to measuring right on my weeks. Those factors alone show evidence that likely the baby isn’t growing at some unreasonable rate, I’m likely not much further along that we originally thought, and my fluid levels are probably fine. Baby’s heart rate was fine, his movement is still consistent, and I’ve had none of the obvious scarier things, like bleeding or crazy sickness.
So, we called it a draw with the baby and we left. He really threw us for a loop last month, but now, apparently all is back to normal. I don’t know whats going on, and there might still be a surprise in store for us. Who knows? Not us. At least, at this point, we now see our doctor every two weeks, so if we have any concerns, or I still feel quite this nervous, we’ll be able to get in sooner to talk again.
Now, we’re home, and the kids are starting to fight. I think I’ll feed them and throw a show on for a bit while I doze a bit on the couch. The kitchen cabinets for our new house are arriving this afternoon, and I couldn’t be more excited about this part!!!!! I can’t wait to see them all carried into the house, ready for us to put them together and plan out our beautiful new kitchen 😀 Should be a good distraction too!