We're wrapping up Week 37 early because we have company in town. Antoinette's Father and Step Mom are our March guests this year and will be in town until Tuesday. I'll send out the next update on Tuesday, at which point, Antoinette will officially be at full term.
On to the doctor visit. First things first. I've received many questions from you all about the rib. According to the doctor, who didn't seem that amazed by Antoinette potentially having a cracked rib during pregnancy, it makes little sense to have an X-ray to confirm a diagnosis that will ultimately lead to the same treatment, which is basically rest and as much immobilization as is reasonable. You always want to limit a baby's exposure to X-rays, even though they are typically harmless. You would typically need 100,000 dental X-rays to reach the toxic level of radiation required to harm a fetus, and while general chest X-rays are a bit more powerful, the number required to hit these levels are still pretty high. The bad news is two fold. Antoinette's rib on the other side is hurting now, although the pain is not as strong, and the doctor indicated that with her nasty cough, this is not that surprising. Luckily, her cough is getting better, but it is not gone yet. It will make her life a lot easier once the cough leaves.
On to the good news. Antoinette had a few other tests, including a check for any dilation of the cervix. There is none. She is still at 0 cm. But don't be fooled by that. While 10 cm is the ultimate target, some women will get to 4 cm and stay there for weeks prior to going into labor, and others will go from 0 cm to 10 cm in a matter of hours. Typically, there is a gradual buildup, so this could be a sign that Antoinette could be weeks out from full blown labor and my prediction of April 7th is going to hold up. Generally, once you are past 4 cm, you are in early labor.
Also, the baby is in tip top health. The doctor says that the baby's head is clearly down low, so the process of lightening has occurred. Antoinette's belly measures 35.5 inches, which is right on target, Billy's heart rate was 140 beats per minute, which is solid, and Antoinette's weight gain has tailed off. She has gained a total of 26 lbs. so far. At a pound a week, on average, she should finish up just below 30 lbs. in overall weight gain, which is about 3-5 lbs. below average, but still in the healthy range. She also had her Beta-Strep Test to look for a common bacteria present in 20% of women that can lead to early labor and infection for the baby upon delivery. Antoinette is now on the weekly visit cycle, so we'll get medical updates every week from here on out.
As we wrap up Week 37, Antoinette can really begin to expect more changes coming than the baby will. She can expect that the mucus plug will drop within the next couple days or weeks, that her hormones are about to kick back into overdrive, that her colostrum could begin to present itself with other related changes, and that she will have this insane nesting behavior from here on out. At least its "insane" in our house, where Antoinette is so active, she could probably build a shed in the back yard and redecorate three rooms of the house in 4 hours.
The baby bag is packed in the car and ready to go. My duffel is on standby with some other necessities as the only thing (other than my wife, of course) that I need to get in the car when its go time. Thanks to all of you who gave us lots of good advice to get that bag's contents trimmed down to a much more manageable level. This weekend, we're going to put together our phone list, so that we can begin trickling the calls out to everyone. We're going to call as many of you as we can and then ask that you feel free to call everyone you can think of. After the list is packed, the final issue on the list is what to do with the dog. I'm up in the air on that one. There won't be time to take him to the kennel on the way to the hospital (or at least I'll feel like their won't be time). I'm considering trying to take him out before I leave to take her and then just trying to come home from time to time to let him out and feed him, if I come home to shower, change, and bring some items back up for Antoinette. Still up in the air on that one.
And finally, my former boss, and still good friend, Colette, is on stand by when the baby is born. When it comes to having kids, Colette is an invaluable resource in a wide range of areas. We both appreciate her help so far and no doubt, going forward. Thanks, Colette.
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