32 Week Appointment

Yesterday we had our 32 week appointment--hopefully I only have two more! Our doctor was an hour late, yeah, fun times. Oh well, I guess Kaiser enjoys making me wait. I still really like our doctor and I just assume something happened that morning. Anyway, I had some mild concerns, nothing that I felt was pressing or urgent (I did wait for my scheduled appointment) but the doctor wanted to check my amniotic fluid anyway. So, I had a wonderful pelvic exam (which gets more painful as I get more pregnant I think) and then a surprise ultrasound!! It wasn't the cool ultrasound where you can see everything, it was just the little machine that they have in the office that they use to check for a heartbeat at 8 weeks--so we couldn't see the whole baby at once--or his face since he was facing my spine, but we could see the back of his head, his spine and ribs, his lungs breathing, his fist and one giant foot. I wasn't expecting that, but it was awesome. His heartbeat was 144 and his lungs looked really good (I think, at least the doctor was happy with it). My amniotic fluid was fine through the exam and the ultrasound, so nothing to worry about. He talked to us a little bit about preterm labor again, reasons to come in or call and gave Mike a DVD on circumcision.

I find it amusing that they have a video. When I was born everyone was circumcised, I think it is more of a decision now. I think most people probably still do have it done, but it is not automatic. The American Pediatric Association doesn't recommend it, but they don't recommend against it either--they say it is a personal and religious decision. Essentially they say that circumcision lowers some risks but very mildly, and that other people say that having foreskin teaches boys better hygiene which then lowers the risks anyway. It also says that the risk of infection FROM the surgery is about the same as the risk of infection from not having it done--so it doesn't really matter.

I think it is Mike's decision, but if there wasn't a Mike I wouldn't do it. First, I am not a guy, so I don't really care or maybe I don't get it. I have had sex with uncircumcised guys and never really cared. It was way easier to get certain things done :) That may be a down side for some guys. No idea. The main reason I wouldn't is because it is painful, and it is just a tiny baby. You can't explain to him that it will hurt, or need to heal. It just hurts him and I would assume it hurts like hell when he pees. Babies can't reason logically, but I am sure they get "when I do this it hurts" scenarios. It seems mean to make a baby's first week result in when I pee it burns. However, risk of infection is really low, they do use numbing agents for the actual procedure and in the long run he won't remember it at all. I don't mind that Mike wants to get it done, I really don't care that much, I just don't want anyone freaking out about it if we chose not to. It is not dangerous either way, it is not a medical decision, it is a personal decision, and if everyone could just acknowledge that I would be a lot happier and not feel the need to educate everyone :) I think there is a lot of misinformation out there about how it will get infected, but there is just as much information saying that an exposed penis is dangerous too--it just isn't as main stream. Neither are cloth diapers, but they are still a really good choice.

Other than that, gigantor is not really gigantic at all. He isn't small or anything, but the doctor did not seem at all surprised by the size and he is measuring perfect at 32 weeks, which I would assume puts him in the 50th percentile--which makes me happy. It is not a very accurate reading, it can be off from 1-2 weeks, but that is no big deal as I want to deliver at 38 weeks anyway :) The baby is tall though. His head is down by my pelvis, the doctor said he can still flip, but probably won't. I always feel him kicking REALLY low and pushing out on my right side so I was confused about him being head down. Well, his head and feet are down there. Essentially his head is down there, his back curves up my right side to about 1-2 inches below my ribs in the center (he follows the rib line from what I can feel) then he folds over so his butt is a little right of center at the top of the belly, and puts his feet back down towards the left where he likes to peddle his feet into my left side and kick outward. I am always sore on that side really low. Sometimes he likes to kick my back and sometimes he moves his butt and flips around (which you can see) or stretches his legs upwards, but since the doctor explained how he was laying it make sense with his movements. I rarely get kicked in the ribs, sometimes punched or pressed on, but I always get kicked in the bladder, spine and belly crease. It doesn't seem comfy to me, but if he is happy I don't care.

Next appointment I get another pelvic exam to check for strep B (36 weeks) and do the heartbeat and measuring thing again. Then at 38 weeks they will check my cervix for dilation and efacement and I hopefully I will go into labor before the 40 week appointment when they talk about induction!