Thursday, August 6th

Today I had my routine doctor appointment with Charlotte OB/GYN. Can you believe that I have been seeing the doctor every single week since the middle of May? Normally, patients don't have weekly prego appts until the last month but since I had my cervix issue, they see me weekly from week 22 through now.

Mom was with me for the appointment and it was very exciting for her. First the normal weekly stuff --pee in a cup (they are checking to make sure you don't have any protein or sugar), weight & blood pressure. No protein or sugar, no weight gain (so far 19 lb total), and blood pressure was super fab at 108/70.

Then we see Dr. Gourley who Mom of course hit it off with. He was crackin jokes left and right. ("We definitely know its a boy he says..................................................or a girl)!

I had the Strep B test today. They have to make sure I am not a carrier of Strep B or it could be dangerous to the baby during delivery. If I am a carrier and they figure that out in advance, then I will be given antibiotics before my c-section surgery.

Then, Dr. Gourley tells Mom he would like her help. He lubes up the sonogram controller and hands it to her. He presses on my tummy until he finds the right spot and tells Mom to put the controller on my belly right there and press down. This is where we hear the heartbeat of the baby. Mom thinks she's pretty "cool" doing this and has a BIG smile on her face. That baby's heartbeat is same as usual...............154. Good.

My cervix still hangin tough. Yay! Dr. Gourley said my next goal to make it to is 10 more days and then he said we are golden. Basically the baby now is just packing on fat weight.

Due to my low amniotic fluid, he asks for another ultrasound. So off we go to the ultrasound room. The ultrasound today was a surprise (not planned) so now this is wonderful because Mom can see the baby on the TV screen. We see the baby hanging out, moving all around. We got to see the face smashed up against the placenta wall (have a pic but its not that great so I'm not posting) and saw a foot. We measured the fluid level and it turns out that I increased the fluid again this week!! This is from just drinking MORE WATER --lots and lots of water. My level went from 10.8 to 12.2. I asked about what do those numbers mean.... they said they don't want the fluid to get below 9. So I'm good there. The baby is measuring approximately 5 lbs 13 oz today.

Off to Dr. Gourley's room again where he reviews my chart and is very pleased with my increased fluid number. "This is GREAT!"

My next appt is Thursday, August 13th @ 10:50am.