Pregnancy Update

I had an appointment with my midwife a few days ago and thought I would fill ya'll in on the happenings of our pregnancy...

* All my vitals are good, baby is measuring on target and we are meeting normal milestones.

* Cervix is holding up well and has shown no signs of early dilation (woohoo!). My midwife said that the next risk to consider resulting from the cervical surgeries is that the scar tissue would prohibit dilation once we actually want it. Thankfully evening primrose oil can help in those cases, so I will be starting on that soon. Otherwise the tissue will have to be "broken up" during labor. I don't really know what that would feel like, but it doesn't sound pleasant and I would much rather avoid it!

* As of last week Baby Halo-Halo is considered "viable" (he has about a 50% chance of surviving if born now). Not an ideal situation, obviously, but comforting to know.

* We are not aware of any change in the High Grade Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions (the nasty cells on my cervix), but my midwife was optimistic that the labor itself results in enough sloughing off of cells that we can hope to get rid of the bad ones in the process. Lovely side effect I think.

* Baby Halo is not just kicking anymore, he is launching all out attacks on my insides these days. He has made me jump in surprise at work before. I think he gets bored at work sometimes (or maybe that is transference speaking). Ray is convinced that it is the Thai fighter instincts and he must be training for the big day in there.

* I have Group B Strep colonization. Not a problem for me, but Baby has a chance of dangerous infection at birth so I will need to get Penicillin via IV during birth.

* I am Rh negative. I have negative blood, Ray has positive blood. If my blood intermingles with the baby's for whatever reason, I can develop antibodies against his blood and in subsequent pregnancies my body will attack the fetus as an invader. To prevent the development of the antibodies I will be getting a Rhogam shot in a few weeks and then again after the birth.

* I have mentioned to some of you the crazy mystery pain I have been getting on and off for the past month (imagine someone stabbing you with a knife in your left ovary and then twisting it around for an hour or 3 while you kneel on the ground trying to breath and not lose your mind or throw up). Apparently this is simply "severe round ligament pain". Generally you have a quick stab of pain or dull stretching pain as this ligament stretches around your growing uterus. Not this kind of ridiculous torture which is very rare, but also nothing to worry about. I am not entirely convinced but my midwife is, so until I have a reason to doubt it I will go with her expert opinion.

* We have not started the nursery yet *gulp* or gotten any baby gear. We are not doing a lot, but I still meant to get it going before now. We did order a rug, so that might be the motivation I need to clean out the unwanted piles from the room!

Overall, things are going well for us. I feel pretty good on most days and the baby is healthy, so I am very happy with this pregnancy. 110 days left and counting...