One less surprise at birth

Baby boy has hair!! Not as much hair as I had when I was born, but at least a light dusting of peach fuzz! How do we know that? Because we could see the wispy fuzz on the surprise ultrasound I got this morning.

Went in for my 39 week appointment with Amy, and she decided to do an internal (my first), so that if I go into labor soon, at least I can let the nurses know where I was as of today. Amy said I'm 1 cm dilated and 80 percent effaced. Baby boy is at -2 station, which means he really hasn't started moving down the birth canal at all. I'm not sure what I was expecting (a tape measure?), but I sure wasn't expecting that the medical folks can determine all those measurements just by feel!

The internal itself wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't too bad. Amy made a point of "moving things around in there" to try to encourage contractions. She said my cervix is very stretchable, which is apparently good for pushing and favorable for induction, if it comes to that.

The pee was clear of sugars and proteins, and baby's heartbeat was strong. BP was 110/68, and we finalized that I'll go on the generic mini-pill (birth control) post-partum.

But I was down two pounds from last week (back under 160), and my fundal height only measured around 35/36 cm. Since they like it to be within two of the number of weeks of pregnancy (I'm 39 weeks, so 2 cm off would be 37 or 41), Amy decided to do an ultrasound, to check the amniotic fluid levels.

Fluid looked good, so no worries. He's thriving in there somewhere. Once she got the images and felt around a little more, Amy said she thinks the FH measurement may be off because baby boy is almost all on my right side. He has been for as long as I can remember, which makes for a lopsided look and frequent kicks and nudges around my side.

And it was a nice surprise to leave with three last in-the-womb photos I wasn't expecting: one of his toes jamming up under my right rib, one of his peachfuzz hair and one of his face.

Seems baby boy likely got my squishy chin, 'cause boy does his look round and chubby! Seeing his chin really kind of spun me for a loop, though, because it made it all the more real for me that parts of this baby are me, and parts are Brian. Suddenly seeing that fat little chin brought back a flood of memories from when Brian and I were dating. As silly as it sounds, we used to compare each other's chins all the time. Brian has a bony, pointy chin (almost no cartiledge), while I have a squishy chin full of extra mush. Man our chins entertained us back in the old days. So did Diet Pepsi burps, but that's another story for another time.

Now if only the picture of baby boy's toes was clear enough for me to see if he got what Brian calls his own "perfect feet" or if baby boy got my "royal toe." My second toe is considerably longer than my big toe; don't worry, I've come to terms with it over the years and it doesn't bother me anymore.

Also got a few tips from Amy for encouraging labor: REALLY spicy food for lunch (not for dinner, since that might cause heartburn at bed time); a heating pad on my lower back for 20 minutes each night; nipple stimulation for 20 minutes each night; and the old tried-and-true doin' it.

Eh, maybe I'll try one or more of those things Friday. Tomorrow is our anniversary, and while I'll be happy whenever this baby decides to come, I'd rather keep July 16 just for the Brian and I.

Oh, and if I make it to Tuesday -- my next doc's appointment -- without dropping (looks likely), Amy will schedule an induction for sometime before the end of July. I'd prefer to go naturally (doesn't "picking" his birthday seem artificial?), so I think I'd prefer to schedule for early the week of July 27, if we have to plan ahead.