If I had a dollar . . .

for every time someone told me I don't look big enough to be due on July 18th I would be so rich. These comments come daily from both strangers and people I know. I know that the comments are harmless and compliments but they come over and over and I really am getting self conscious about it. I look at my belly and it is big. I feel uncomfortable and like I will deliver in 4-5 weeks. There are even a few stretch marks so I am in fact growing. When my midwife measures me I am always right on target. I am just 5'9" and have small babies. I feel like with every comment I have to give an excuse. I have to prove that I am actually being healthy. I get tired of it.

I never took pictures or updated at my last appointment but I actually gained 4.5 pounds between my 31 and 33 week appointments. The culprit was chocolate chip cookie dough consumed straight from the tub. Never send a hungry pregnant woman to the grocery store! You never know what might end up in the cart. Everything else looked great. My 33 week appointment was with the OB that is following my care with my midwife. I like her OK but it is so different the way the OB and the midwife treat things. Last week (35 weeks) I met with my midwife and then this week I will meet with both of them together. For some reason the OB wanted to do this though when I scheduled the appointment they acted as though they had never heard of this being done. The good thing is that Sam will go with me and meet them both.

At last week's (35 week) appointment I again had gained 4 pounds so I am finally packing it on. My pregnancy is following Katherine's almost exactly. As of right now I have actually gained one more pound than I had at 35 weeks with Katherine. The problem with Katherine though was that I stopped gaining weight at 35 weeks. So, my goal is to gain about one pound a week from here until the end. Luckily I started off lighter this time so overall I will weigh the same. I think that most women have a pregnancy groove if you will and this is just how I do pregnancy. Blood pressure, measurements and all else were normal.

My one frustration is that I tested Group B Strep positive at my very first appointment. I did not even know that they were testing for it but they did. A week later, without taking any antibiotics I was negative. It is not a big deal to have it and it comes and goes in all people throughout their life, but for me it means that the OB wants me to come in to the hospital early in labor to get an IV of antibiotics started. I do not want to go in early. I do not want antibiotics and I do not want to be hooked up to an IV. My midwife agreed to retest me last week which is when most people are tested anyway. I agreed that if I am positive again I would be fine with an IV antibiotic but if I am still negative I would like to avoid it. The only drawback to that is since I tested positive at some point in this pregnancy, we would have to have the baby tested at birth and wait 48 hours for the results. I am sure we will talk about it next week when I have my appointment with my OB and midwife together.

Friday night we met with my doula who happens to be my chiropractor as well. She and her husband came over for dinner and we had a great evening grilling and eating outside. Katherine loved showing Dr. Cindy her big girl room, her silly work sprinkler and showing off by peeing on the carpet in the den (thanks Katherine). We talked about my birth plan and what she will do as my doula.

It has been a fairly productive week and I am moving along on my "to do" list so take a look at what all has been crossed off.