Had a very productive check-up with the midwives today! Got my Group B Strep test done, which I hadn't been looking forward to but was completely painless. Hadn't even thought about the fact that my pants would be coming off, because haven't had to do that since my first visit with the midwives 5 months ago. But I'm sure mine are not the first pair of hairy preggo legs she's had to endure, haha!! Hey, it's winter and shaving is quite an effort these days, don't judge!
Basically, about 30% of women have Group B Strep "down there", but it's harmless to the mom and also is a transient thing that comes and goes. So, they wait to test you around 35-37 weeks, and if you're positive, you have to get 2 rounds of IV antibiotics after you've gone into labor but before you give birth. After that, your baby's risk of contracting the bacteria and becoming seriously ill from it goes from 1 in 200 to 1 in 4,000. If you don't have time to get the antibiotics in before the birth, apparently they have to keep the baby several days (a week??) in the NICU for observation, yikes!! Because I know there can be tons of side effects from taking antibiotics themselves, and I'd like to labor at home for as long as possible and not have to rush to the hospital for drugs, I really REALLY hope my test comes back negative. But we'll just have to wait and see.
I met with Corrie today, who is my favorite of the midwives. When she came in, she said something like "Is it a girl?" to which I answered "We're not finding out!". But now I have this voice in the back of my head going "It must be in your chart that the baby is a girl!!!" hahaha!! I doubt it, probably it was just her greeting. Everyone loves to guess what the baby is (though almost everyone thinks it's a boy, including 2 psychics - our birthing teacher and my sister's mother-in-law.) Anyway... She confirmed the baby's position which is, drum roll please.... HEAD DOWN! Hooray!!! And she was so gentle in her palpating, hooray for that too! She asked me to take a deep breath in, and then when I blew out she gave 2 solid (but gentle) mashes to my lower pelvis area and then announced, yep, that's the head down there!
Since I have no cramping or any kind of early labor signs, she cleared me to head to Charlotte for Thanksgiving. We had purchased "cancel for any reason" travel insurance just in case, but soooooooooooooo glad everything is going well and we can go home! I can't wait to see everyone and have a yummy Thanksgiving and our baby shower!!
Our next appointment will be in 2 weeks - at 37 weeks I'll officially be far enough along to delivery at the Birthing Center! She said that Ryoji should come to that appointment, cuz we'll go over what to do when I go into labor and all that. With his schedule though, it'll be tough, but hopefully he can make it. We also have our consultation that week (December 4) with the pediatrician we think we're gonna go with. And I really gotta set up an interview with some day cares... so much to do!!!!! And only 12 more days of work to go! ^_^
Basically, about 30% of women have Group B Strep "down there", but it's harmless to the mom and also is a transient thing that comes and goes. So, they wait to test you around 35-37 weeks, and if you're positive, you have to get 2 rounds of IV antibiotics after you've gone into labor but before you give birth. After that, your baby's risk of contracting the bacteria and becoming seriously ill from it goes from 1 in 200 to 1 in 4,000. If you don't have time to get the antibiotics in before the birth, apparently they have to keep the baby several days (a week??) in the NICU for observation, yikes!! Because I know there can be tons of side effects from taking antibiotics themselves, and I'd like to labor at home for as long as possible and not have to rush to the hospital for drugs, I really REALLY hope my test comes back negative. But we'll just have to wait and see.
I met with Corrie today, who is my favorite of the midwives. When she came in, she said something like "Is it a girl?" to which I answered "We're not finding out!". But now I have this voice in the back of my head going "It must be in your chart that the baby is a girl!!!" hahaha!! I doubt it, probably it was just her greeting. Everyone loves to guess what the baby is (though almost everyone thinks it's a boy, including 2 psychics - our birthing teacher and my sister's mother-in-law.) Anyway... She confirmed the baby's position which is, drum roll please.... HEAD DOWN! Hooray!!! And she was so gentle in her palpating, hooray for that too! She asked me to take a deep breath in, and then when I blew out she gave 2 solid (but gentle) mashes to my lower pelvis area and then announced, yep, that's the head down there!
Since I have no cramping or any kind of early labor signs, she cleared me to head to Charlotte for Thanksgiving. We had purchased "cancel for any reason" travel insurance just in case, but soooooooooooooo glad everything is going well and we can go home! I can't wait to see everyone and have a yummy Thanksgiving and our baby shower!!
Our next appointment will be in 2 weeks - at 37 weeks I'll officially be far enough along to delivery at the Birthing Center! She said that Ryoji should come to that appointment, cuz we'll go over what to do when I go into labor and all that. With his schedule though, it'll be tough, but hopefully he can make it. We also have our consultation that week (December 4) with the pediatrician we think we're gonna go with. And I really gotta set up an interview with some day cares... so much to do!!!!! And only 12 more days of work to go! ^_^
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