Breech Baby

The goods news is that the baby looks great. He is large and already estimated to be around 6lb 14oz. His size puts him at 37 weeks and 5 days, even though he is only 36 weeks. The bad news is that he is still head up. Why is he so non-compliant? We have over a decade before his teens, so I would like him to be more cooperative.

Anyway, next Tuesday morning Drew and I are going for the external cephalic version procedure in which a specialist will try to flip the baby. If this does not work (it only works about 50% of the time), then I will have a C-section around April 21st. This is not what I had hoped for, but as long as we have a healthy baby, Drew and I will both be happy.

Week 35 (WARNING - This post contains the word cervix)

Drew and I just had a somewhat encouraging doctor's appointment. When Dr. Kazemi-Dunn examined my cervix she said that it had softened to the point that it was very easy for her to feel the baby's head. This is good news on two fronts: 1) the cervix needs to soften for labor to begin, therefore this could mean that things are getting started, 2) It appears that the baby is now in the head-down position! The one caveat to this is that Dr. Kazemi-Dunn also felt a round mass of baby up near the top of my uterus. She admitted to the possibility of mistaking the bum for the head (by the way, she is a great doctor; very calm with no arrogance). His heart beat was loudest right in the middle so this offers no additional clue regarding his position. We will know more next week when I go for the last sono, but I am feeling a bit more optimistic about being able to avoid the ECV, which can be painful, and/or a C-section.

34 weeks and I have hit the pregnancy wall

I am officially uncomfortable most of the time now. I was hoping that this would not happen for a few more weeks, but no such luck. My fingers swell up when I walk more than 1 mile. Therefore, I have taken to wearing my wedding band and engagement ring on my pinky finger when getting excercise. I am having a terrible time sleeping at night because my hips ache like crazy from sleeping on my side. Drew convinced me to get a pregnancy pillow, which helps a little. Our little guy still has not flipped into the head-down position and he seems to enjoy wedging himself up against my ribs, which is also uncomfortable. I am trying to have a better attitude and remind myself that many women have to carry multiple babies, and at least I am not on bed rest. But I am done with trying to enjoy pregnancy. I want to meet our little guy and drink a beer so as far as I am concerned the next 6 weeks can't go by fast enough.

On a more positive note, my uncle and dad were here last week. On Wednesday my dad and I hiked up the Tanque Verde Ridge trail.
Here we are in front of Rincon Peak, which still has snow.


On Saturday we all hiked up the Doulgas Spings trail to Bridal Wreath Falls. The hike and waterfalls were incredible. Here are some photos. Right now there is more water in desert than I have ever seen in the 7 years I have lived here. It feels like we are having a real spring and I love it.

Stubborn Boy

Our little one is still insisting on remaining in the head up position. Not that I blame him, as I too would not want to spend 7 weeks upside down even if I was submerged in water. If he does not turn by 36 weeks, we are scheduling an external cephalic version (ECV) procedure for week 37. In this procedure, with the aid of a heart rate monitor and a sonogram, a doctor manipulates my belly to get the baby to turn. It has a pretty good success rate and the only risk is that if the baby's heart rate drops I would need an emergency Cesarean. This can happen if the procedure puts pressure on the umbilical cord. Because the baby is already full term at 37 weeks, and I would need a Cesarean anyway if he doesn't turn, Drew and I have agreed that this would be worth it. Until then, I am also going to try acupuncture to get the little guy to turn. Hopefully, he will eventually cooperate or this could just be his first of many acts of defiance.

Rats with Pin Worms = YUCK!

My freshman year of high school I had an eccentric biology teacher that spent a month teaching us the 'ins' and 'outs' of parasites. Perhaps with my adaptive memory it just felt like a month, but needless to say we exhausted the topic of parasites and it was traumatic. So traumatic in fact that I became a vegetarian for 3 years. Although I recovered from my meat ban, I never completely got over a fear of acquiring worms of some sort. All my worm neuroses have resurfaced this past week when it was determined that our lab's rat colony was somehow infested with pin worms...GAK. Luckily, rodent pin worms are species specific and can only be transferred between rats, mice and rabbits. Thank God because they are highly contagious and the eggs can actually become airborne...double GAK! Anyway, all of our animals either need to be sacrificed or quarantined for 6 weeks. This makes finishing up the lab work I wanted taken of before the baby arrived impossible. Oh well.

In other news, Drew and I started child birth classes last Thursday. It was about what one would expect, 15% helpful and 85% useless/obvious. We go every Thursday evening for 2 hours until April. Also, Drew's dad came for a visit. It was great to seem him. He helped us out by purchasing the last few items on our baby gear list, including a car seat. We also went for a hike in Saguaro East, which was incredible because there was water in the washes. Here are some photos.





On the pregnancy front, I am 33 weeks on Wednesday. I am still feeling OK, but I am done jogging. Everything just started to hurt when I would run so I was worried that I might cause an injury that would impede me getting back in shape after the baby is born. My weight is up by 28 pounds and my belly is 42 inches in circumference. Only 7 more weeks to go and I am feeling ready.