We’ve actually had three baby appointments since my last email/blog. They were pretty standard, so Gabe thought I should wait until our last sono before I wrote again. However - I’ll catch you up on the two appointments you missed, and then talk about the new exciting one from yesterday!! Just in case any of you are interested in the heart rate on determining if McBaby is a boy/girl. I know of a few side bets going on... :)
Our 32 Week appointment I was measuring 38 cm (38 cm= 38 weeks), so of course - we were still measuring ahead! Baby’s heart rate jumped to 146 at this appointment. Gabe asked Dr. Jensen what that meant, and the Dr. said that the baby probably turned into a girl (if it was ever a boy to begin with!). I think Gabe had/has his heart set on a baby boy... so I think this info made him a little nervous!! However, the baby was doing some heavy calisthenics right before the appointment... and as we all know, when you’re working out - that heart rate goes up!!
Our 34 Week appointment was on October 5th, and I was measuring right at 40 weeks. I asked Dr. Jensen, “so, this is what my belly is supposed to look like at the end of my pregnancy?” He responded, “Yes, you should be this large when you’re pushing!” That was comforting... ;) Baby’s heart rate at this appointment had dropped back down to the 130's... and was at an all time low of 132. Gabe asked Dr. Jensen if that meant that the baby had turned back into a boy. Dr. Jensen got a kick out of that, and said most likely!
Ok.... *Drum Roll* now to the most exciting appointment we’ve had yet! Just yesterday (October 19th) we went in for our 36 Week check up (we’ll be 37 weeks this Saturday). We were scheduled at 2:15 for a sonogram upstairs, and our regular check up with Dr. Jensen downstairs was immediately following. The sono girls were running behind, and we actually didn’t get into the room until about 2:45. This means that I got to sit in the waiting room for 30 minutes listening to Gabe complain about how miserable it is ‘waiting’ to find out the sex of the baby. At the very beginning (with a little convincing) he was on board with waiting to find out whether the baby was a boy/girl. Now that we’re so close, he’s lost his patience in the ‘unknown’.... and he’s ready to know if he’s having a son/daughter. I was thankful when the sono tech came to get us... so maybe Gabe would be distracted by watching his baby on the big screen... and also to empty my bladder afterwards!! The tech apologized for running late, and I told her I didn’t mind... I just hope I didn’t pee on her table!! She told me to go use the restroom, and since I was so far along I didn’t need to drink anything. (Although - that’s what the paperwork had said to do, and I surprisingly had followed directions!!)
After using the restroom, which was such a relief... I walked into the sono room. I had asked our tech if Gabe had told her that we didn’t want to find out the sex of the baby. Nope - he had left that part out of their conversation! So, I told her... we want to see the baby, but not the baby’s business!! She said that she could easily do that. When she was rubbing the sono wand across my belly, she would have Gabe & I close our eyes until she got to the place that she needed to be in, and then she would have us open them. However, I didn’t close my eyes - I kept my eyes locked on that sweet husband of mine. And mind you - I could only see his right eye from where I was sitting. Be knownst to me - he probably had his left eye wide open!! But I tried to stay on him to keep his eyes off any baby business. We were able to see the top of baby’s head (which BTW is ‘down’ where it’s supposed to be!), and baby has hair!! We also saw inside baby’s brain. We saw baby’s kidneys, and it’s heart. It’s amazing to see those four chambers pumping away. What a miracle. It’s amazing what God can create in just a few short weeks!! Baby’s heart rate was also the same as it was from the appointment before - a strong 132 bpm. After the tech measured the baby’s head, and around the baby’s belly... she was able to tell us that baby should right now weigh 7 pounds, 10 ounces. She said with sonos - this number could either by short/long by a pound and a half. So, this little trapeze artist in my belly is large and in charge! She tried to get us a good photo of baby’s face for us to take home. It’s been about 30 minutes now though, and baby was ‘over’ getting it’s picture taken. We were only able to get baby’s lips, and underneath side of it’s nose, and part of it’s chubby little cheeks. (Note: the only thing I was sure of is that baby was going to have a lot of hair, and some huge cheekies - looks like both my predictions have been right on!!). From the photo, I think baby has Gabe’s lips... large one on bottom, small one on top. I also think the nose is all Gabe too. As for the chubby cheeks - that’s something we all three share!! :) This might have been my favorite sono experience... my bladder was empty, and our tech was so sweet! She was a first time grandma herself, and had just been blessed with a beautiful granddaughter. The tech was telling me the story of how her granddaughter was born, and how the baby recognized her voice right after she was delivered (she spoke almost daily to her daughter-in-law’s belly). Of course, that got the pregnancy tears going! I think I hugged her like three times before we left. She was really neat.
*Photo: baby's head is going off towards the right side of the picture. The top part of it's head is blacked out, so you can only see the underneath of it's nose, it's lips (almost going up/down), and it's chubby cheeks.
Now downstairs to the doctor’s office! This was our longest appointment apart from our first appointment. Dr. had a lot to talk about. They asked where we wanted to deliver the baby, who our pediatrician was, and also who the father of the baby was. I told him Gabriel J. McKeever was the dad, and the nurse acted surprised, and said, “oh, he has the same last name!” Gabe wanted to say, “yeah, I’m her brother!” Thank goodness he kept his mouth shut! Which he’s not really known to do... :) Then Dr. Jensen came in and talked to us about baby. He said that usually sonos over estimate how much baby weighs, and he thought baby was more around 7 pounds. He said that by the sonogram the baby should be due October 26th - but that’s just by the baby’s weight. Not by the ‘age’ of the baby. My blood pressure has been a little high the last two appointments. Not high enough to be concerned about, but higher than my usual. It’s usually a ‘textbook’ blood pressure. He’s not too worried because there has only been either a trace, or no protein in my urine the whole pregnancy. He said that if the protein came back +2, or +3, in addition to the higher blood pressure, that’d be more concerning. However, he said that we’re going to be keeping an eye on it, and it’ll be important to see what it is at our next appointment.
Now to as for when the baby will arrive? Well... we still don’t know for sure. BUT - Dr. has always seemed pretty nonchalant about changing my due date, or saying the baby will come early. This appointment - the tone seemed a little different. He told us the soonest that he could induce was at 39 weeks. That’s if I’m done being pregnant, and we just want to have the baby born. However, if my blood pressure continues to go up, and/or they find protein in my urine... they will speed up the process. Dr. Jensen knows that I do not want to be induced, and he’s not a Dr. that does a lot of inducing either - however, we’re both realistic that we want to do what’s best for the baby, and for me.
Our next appointment is next Wednesday, October 26th. He’s going to check to see if I’m dilated at that time. He said while he’s up there poking around, that it could cause contractions to begin - which may jump start things. Also - if my blood pressure has increased, then we may discuss jump starting things by induction. We’re all eager for the baby to come on it’s own, when it’s ready... but we’re just going to have to see if everything goes the way it should.
When we first found out we were pregnant, it seemed so surreal to me. Pregnancy for the most part has been a breeze - minus the usual complaints, but I still feel I’ve had a lot less than most. I’ve been pretty lucky! After this last appointment, I had another surreal moment... kind of weirded out by the fact that baby might not be here November 12th or later... but we could be looking at a week, or two weeks? It’s pretty amazing/scary to me that in just days our lives will be changed forever.
So, what did Gabe & I do after all this? Date night!! Every doctor’s appointment we’ve tried to do something special like dinner or dinner/movie.... something fun to celebrate baby. Last night seemed a little more special though... because it could be our last one that we don’t need to scout out a babysitter for. We ate at River City downtown (Gabe’s favorite), and then watched 50/50 at the Warren. There’s nothing like thinking about your baby being born, and how you’ve created a little human being inside you.... then watching a movie about cancer, and people losing their lives... to really put ‘life’ into perspective. It. Is. So. Precious. What an amazing gift we all have - and one that I know we can all take for granted. We may not know the sex of our baby, but I do know just looking into it’s little eyes are going to have me looking at this world in a whole new way. We are so blessed.
This weekend we’ll be finishing up the nursery, and going out to buy the car seat (thank you Grandma Karen!!). That way we can sit back, relax (ha ha), and wait for McBaby’s arrival!!
Thank you all for following, and reading our little journey to parenthood!! :)
Lots of Love,
Gabe, Tasha, & McBaby
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