The home stretch (35 weeks)

I would never have imagined such a smooth pregnancy for Peanut; every week she aces her biophysical exam, looks fabulous on the ultrasound, and impresses Sue (the ultrasound tech) and Dr. Baer. The polyhydramnious has subsided. Last week Sue announced that Peanut was head down and had dropped. This latter fact does not have any bearing on Peanut's delivery, as our little one will be arriving via trapdoor; however, it is reassuring.

On the other hand, this has been a difficult pregnancy for me physically. The hiatal hernia makes me feel like I have been punched in the stomach all the time, so I am out of breath and almost never hungry. There is also the usual pregnancy stuff: sore hips, acid reflux, sleeplessness, and other common things that I won't mention. Every week I say to Dr. Baer, "She looks done enough to me--let's get her out". And he laughs.

We bought a fetal heart monitor (not a Doppler or an ultrasound, just an amplifier), because the days when Peanut does not move much throw me into anxious fits. It was around this time with Liam that my blood pressure started to really spike, my body started to swell, and my former OB started to talk about inducing labor. I recall that time as my "naive period", when I could have done something to save Liam if I had known what was to transpire. And guess what: my feet have officially started swelling. I think it is time to break out Jon's blood pressure cuff and stethoscope.