35 weeks 6 days

I'm doing well with this pregnancy, enjoying every minute of it!  I've only had minor aches and pains, that the new chiropractor I found has been able to help immensely, so I don't have any real complaints at all.  I'll be 36 weeks tomorrow, and I am not in any rush for this time to end.

I've had a slew of appointments since the last time I wrote.  I had another growth scan done at 34 weeks, and baby was head down, still hiding his or her face in my placenta.  We are still going for a gender surprise, and I've done so well with telling each technician that I don't want to know and to let me know so I can look away when they go near the genitals so I don't accidentally see what I'm not supposed to see.  :)  Baby looked great on the ultrasound, the heart-rate was at 141 bpm and baby was measuring pretty much right on.  The tech estimated weight at around 5.5lbs.

Since that head down ultrasound, I am relatively certain that the baby has done a few full 360 turns.  I'm able to feel two distinct lumps on either side a lot of the time, so I'm pretty sure baby like the transverse position best, and then I've had a bowling ball right at the top of my uterus a couple times, with hiccups near my ribs, likely meaning baby was head up at that point.  More than once I've had what I'm sure are feet poke out near my ribs, hiccups near my hip and lightning bolt shock waves as a head connects with my bladder and cervix.

Here's a couple of pictures from the last session, where baby is hiding behind placenta and cord:

I saw my hematologist as well, and as of 36 weeks I will be taking a different anti-coagulant until I go into labor.  After that I will switch back to the one I've been on for the whole pregnancy until I'm 6 weeks post-partum.  With the clotting disorders that I have, I will not be able to get an epidural if I am too close to having taken the medication before I go into labor.  I am truly okay with that, since I don't intend on getting one anyway.  I was med free with my daughter and that is my birth plan for this one too.  The only thing that scares me a little is that if I need a c-section and don't have time for an epidural to be placed due to either the medication or an emergency, I would be put under general anesthetic.  While I'm not planning for that happenstance, the thought of not being awake for the birth of my baby, and my husband not being there to witness it, bothers me a lot.  I'm trying not to dwell on that though, instead using my hypnosis birthing techniques to visualize the birth I want to have.

I'm not sure if I mentioned the hypnosis birthing before now.  I'm doing a home course to help me control my responses during labor.  I labored med free without hypnosis the first time, so I'm believing that I can do it again and that the relaxation techniques I'm learning will help make this an "easy, comfortable birth", like the program suggests.

At my last Dr's appt, at 34 weeks 6 days, I was up 18lbs, so I'm on track for my goal of 25lbs total.  I'm actually gaining weight at pretty much exactly the same pace as I did with my first pregnancy.  I gained 26lbs with my daughter.  I'm carrying about the same too, just slightly lower and slightly more out front.  I go back and forth nearly daily as to whether or not I've got a boy or a girl in there.  Only about 4 more weeks till we find out!

I had my baby shower on the weekend, and had a great time.  I got spoiled rotten, with lots of stuff, and a ton of blankets!  I'll put up some pics from the shower in another post.

In the meantime, here's a recent pic, from 35 weeks 3 days.