My last second-trimester appointment

Drank my flat orange soda between 6:35 and 6:40 a.m., had blood drawn at 7:40 a.m., dropped off pee and got weight and blood pressure checks at 8 a.m., saw Amy at 8:15 a.m. and I was out of the doc's office by 8:35 a.m.

I've gained 10-11 pounds since the end of October, and my first belly measurement came in at 28 inches, whatever that means. Amy says both the weight gain and belly measurement are perfect. She did caution me that my back will likely start hurting in the next few weeks, and that I will want to abandon the heels when it does, since they can add to the problem. I won't hear from the docs about the blood work unless there's an issue with my sugar absorbtion (sign of gestational diabetes) or if my iron count is low.

Baby boy's heartbeat measured a healthy 140 beats per minute.

As for scheduling, Amy looked over my list of upcoming appointments, and she thinks it's right on track. She'd actually prefer that I see the docs as much as possible in the last month, and as long as everything continues to go smoothly, she's comfortable doing the check-ups through the first part of June.

And I'm keeping next week's appointment with Pat. Amy apologized that the staff wasn't better educated about the purpose for the visit and explained that the new, now-standard 28-week appointment with Pat is to review a bunch of end-of-pregnancy and post-partum details. We'll talk about what to expect in the last trimester as far as appointments and hospital services go, touch on breastfeeding and discuss options for post-partum birth control, since the pill I'd been on for the past decade-plus will hamper milk production and I'll need to try something new. Pat will also make the appropriate notations in my file so that the hospital is prepared for circumcision and breast feeding support when the time comes. Amy said I may already know some of what Pat will go over, but since this is my first pregancy, it wouldn't hurt to hear everything one more time.

A couple of other items of good news from this morning's appointment: First, we have a pediatrician (yay!), and second, baby boy will definitely have a July birthday, so long as he doesn't make an early appearance.

Amy brought up the pediatrician question, but it was also on my list of items to discuss. I've heard great things about Dr. Baker at the Nyes Rd. facility, and she said he is her top pediatrician recommendation. I thought perhaps he wasn't taking new patients now, but Amy winked, smiled and let me know he only takes new patients through Hershey Med referrals. So she made a note in my file and told me there's nothing more I need to do: we have a pediatrician. The hospital will help us make our first newborn pediatrician appointment before we leave, after the baby is born. Whew, that was easy!

And I confirmed that Hershey Med doesn't let its pregant ladies go overdue past one week. So if baby boy doesn't show up on his own by July 29, they'll induce me. Although with another wink and smile Amy said she'll share in the last month some tried-and-true tips for encouraging his arrival.