Today we had our doctor's appointment for the 38th week. The strange thing about this appointment was that my regular doctor is out of town, so we had a substitute doctor who was a man. It was a little disconcerting to have a male doctor since I've been so used to my lady doctor, and I was a bit uncomfortable coming into the appointment. The doctor was really nice though and he even got Chris to participate a little. When the doctor was checking Alex's position, he invited Chris to come up and feel where her head is and everything. I think Chris really enjoyed that and he said that he could feel her little head but he tried not to squish her. Alex is continuing to do really well. My baby bump grew about an inch in diameter which means that she is growing well. She is still head down although her head is pretty high and she has not dropped down yet. Her heart rate sounded really good and the doctor listened to it longer than our normal doctor does (he was kind of jamming out to it). I've dilated a little!! Hurray! Instead of only being dilated about a fingertip, i'm at about a one (which is honestly not that much bigger, but it's progress)!! My blood pressure is really good and i'm also really well hydrated. The doctor also talked to us a lot about my blood type (i'm RH -), the option of an epidural (I haven't decided if I want one yet), and about when to come into the hospital for delivery. Overall it was a good appointment and we are thrilled that there has been some progress made!
Not that it's any of my business...but my doctor advised me that if I want to go natural I wait until my 2nd child to do so because your body already knows what to do and labor is easier. I found that to be true! But maybe recovery with my 1st would have been a little easier if I toughed it out. Still, for me-I'm glad I got an epidural on the 1st because my labor from when my water broke to when Katelyn was born was 10 hours (not counting all the hours previous that I was laboring as well) and for Jason from the time my water broke until when I had him was just 2 hours. I tried to get an epidural with him but he came too fast! Anyway, just some food for thought--you know yourself best.
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