It's so hard to believe that we're already to the big 35/35-- 35 weeks pregnant, 35 days to go.
I'll say it again. 35 days to go.
OMG!!!
I've been pretty good about posting belly pics each week on Twitter, but not here-- I usually take them on Tuesdays in the bathroom at work. This one is from last week.
We're totally not ready yet and with all of the sickness in our house, it's been very difficult to get the things done that we need to do. Liam seems to be feeling better. He's on a new antibiotic that seems to be working and although his teeth are still bothering him, they've broken through his gums, so the worst seems to be over. Me? I'm another story.
It's been over 2 weeks and I still can't seem to shake whatever I have. My throat felt better for a while after finishing my antibiotics and the pink eye has disappeared, but I'm congested, I have a horrible cough that keeps me up all night, my throat is hurting again and in the past few days I've developed lots of pressure and pain on my left ear. I think it's sinus related.
When I was at the doc last week, I was given a prescription for Zyrtec-D and Flonase-- it's helped some of my symptoms, but not all, and will not make me well if it is, in fact, another infection that's causing this trouble. He mentioned that if I felt pressure in my face/teeth to give him a call and he'd phone in another round of antibiotics. I think this ear pressure is enough to assume it's sinus, even though I don't have a headache. (Unless it's an ear infection?)
The last (and worst?) of my ailments, I'll just have to wait out until delivery. I am experiencing miserable sciatic nerve pain, to the point that I'm barely able to walk from one side of our house to the other. It seems to be ok in the morning but get worse as the day goes on. Obviously, this is slowing me down a lot. This pain on top of being sick has left me with very little energy to finish the tasks that need to get done! (Closet cleaning, baby laundry, moving Liam into his new room, etc.) I just hope that the baby does not come early-- I need to feel better and I need to get my ducks in a row. I fear how I would emotionally handle going into labor within the next few weeks, yet I know it's entirely possible.
Which brings me to my doctor's appointment last week. I've all but decided to switch doctors at this point-- my doctor canceled her 5th appointment this pregnancy with me last week because she was going to be out of the office. This has happened repeatedly and she was not there for Liam's birth. I figure, what's the point of continuing to make appointments with her if she's not going to be there anyway? I know that whoever delivers my baby will be the person on call, but I'd at least like to be able to count on my doctor to be there for office visits. When my appointment was canceled last week, I asked to see whoever was available.
I really liked the doctor I saw-- he was incredibly thorough, more thorough than my current doctor has ever been. He asked me lots of questions, especially about how sick I've been and what I've been taking. He did not agree with the meds that my doctor's nurse had suggested I take & disagreed with her statement that I couldn't be given any additional antibiotics at this point. (Scored major brownie points with me. I can't stand that nurse and every time I have an issue, I have to deal with her. I called last week and left a message asking if my doc could see me for whatever it is that I have, and her response was that my doctor couldn't see me unless I was pregnant. WTF?! Did she not have my chart right in front of her? I paused and then said, "I'm 34 weeks pregnant." Then she launched into how I should take Robitussin D.)
Anyway, back to the doc-- After talking about how bad I've been feeling, the doc wanted to check on the baby to make sure that he's handling everything ok, so I was sent down the hall to be monitored (NST). Although his heartbeat was steady around 150, the doc did not see many accelerations/decelerations that you should see with an active baby. After about 40 minutes of monitoring, he said that everything was ok, but that he'd feel better if I had an ultrasound to check his growth, my fluid levels and the placenta. Everything looked great-- but the doc said he'd like me to have a NST each week from now until delivery just to check on the baby and make sure that he's still better off inside and not outside. Here's baby Jack's profile:
When I got up to the desk to make my next appointment, the receptionist informed me that my doc would be out again Friday, so I requested that my appointment be made with the doctor I had just seen-- I may request him from now on. I'll have my Strep B test this week (joy) and I'll have an internal before I get monitored for a while.
Fingers crossed that baby is still going to bake a bit longer!!
