So, at 36+6 days I had my clinic visit. Usually I go on a Wednesday, but now that I am a 'lady of leisure' on Maternity leave, I can go on Saturdays- which means Husband can come too. The other good reason for not going on Wednesday is that the doctor is a typical Japanese abrupt doctor, and he is an ultrasound specialist; whereas the Saturday doctor is an OBGYN.
The clinic is quite busy on a Saturday, and after the usual tests (I had gained a bit more weight than I would have liked) it took a little bit of waiting for the nurse to check me. They wanted to do another non-stress test this week, so before I saw the doctor I went to the room and was hooked up again with the sensors around my belly. This time Pichan went crazy the whole time I was in there. Dancing about and whatnot. It was also good, as I get loads of braxton hicks (sometimes they come every few minutes for a few hours at a time) and while I was hooked up the machine was also tracking all the contractions. The nurse asked if they are painful- which they aren't. It's hard to describe them. It's a bit like tightening a muscle over and over again, and after a while it might not be painful, but tired and uncomfortable. The test had me a little worried actually, as they put a woman in the 'room' (curtained off area) behind me and I could hear her baby's rhythmic heartbeart, but Pi's was going crazy- 160bpm-180bpm-200bpm-160bpm-200bpm-180bmp and so on. I asked the nurse after and she said not to worry, that it was just because Pi was moving a lot. When they sleep it should be more rhythmic.
After I went for the ultrasound with the doctor. He was concerned that Pi is getting so big. His head, abdomen and legs were all very big. I pointed out that Pi is gaijin (a foreigner) but I think he is a little worried to deliver such a big baby. What had me worried is that Pi's weight is really low for what the 'average' is. Pi was measuring 2570gms at this visit- and I think Pi was 2500gms a week and a half before. Which isn't much weight gain. I will be curious as to the weight this Saturday to see if Pi puts on the amount that a baby should. My fundal height is also quite little, but as I am going by the baby books and not by anything the doctor says, I figure I will wait until the doctor is worried.
The doctor then wanted me to get me in the chair for a cervix dilation check. To his dismay and to mine, my cervix is still completely closed, but as I think Pi has only just dropped down, it isn't that surprising. What was surprising was the test; I wasn't expecting dinner and a movie, but he was up and out of there faster than I would have liked. I can see why some women find them painful. After, he told me that I need to start walking; lots and lots of walking- blah!
The other slightly concerning thing was that my blood test came back with something 'low'. I was on the ultrasound table and doing my pants up at the time so I didn't have my phone. After, he asked me if I bleed a lot if I cut myself, or when I brush my teeth, so Husband and I are figuring it has something to do with iron or something. It meant that I had to have another blood test though- boo!
The bigger reason for me changing my appointment to Saturday was so that Husband could watch the birthing video and we could take the tour. Unfortunately, all the rooms were full, so no tour this week, but maybe next week. As for the video, it was the same one I watched in the clinic information visit. He too was disturbed by it- not because of the birth (we had watched a lot of birthing videos on Youtube before we got 'busy')- but because of how quiet the woman was, and the husband was disturbingly unhelpful too. Still, by him watching it it meant that he is now 'qualified' to be in the delivery room with me. Japanese bureaucracy.
No comments:
Post a Comment