38-Week Appointment

MCPD: 37 weeks 6 days

I went to my 38 week antenatal visit. Besides the sudden little swelling in my feet, everything was fine. I didn't know the result of my haemoglobin (Hgb) level. They didn't do thumb prick test. Last week it was 10.4. Not so good but not so bad either. I'm just afraid my anemic blood would harm the baby. The last two weeks' Hgb results weren't satisfying. But the nurse seemed not to worry about that. Hopefully, LO is just fine. He's been very active as usual. When I'm writing this, he's moving, protruding parts of his body out, making the bump looks odd. My skin is stretched and very tight, when he moves, it just looks creepy.

So 37 weeks means I have completed the full term of pregnancy! Alhamdulillah. Tomorrow I'll be exactly 38 weeks, it means there are two more weeks to go. But this baby is ready and cooked, so he can pop out anytime. Anyway, he's due anytime now. The nurse scheduled the next appointment. She said "If you haven't delivered, you may come back here next week." Freaky.

Counting the Kicks

MCPD: 31 weeks 4 days

New activity to do: Counting my kicks. Yesterday was the 7th prenatal visit. I was supposed to go last two weeks but I missed it. I didn't notice that after 28 weeks of pregnancy I should be going for check up every fortnight. They did put the appointment date but I just simply didn't notice. Maybe it's just because of my pregnancy absent-mindedness.

Anyway, they gave me a chart to test for fetal movements. I should count movements of any kind such as kicks, rolls or flutters starting at 9 a.m, stop when it reaches 10 and note the time of the tenth movement. If by 9 p.m I feel less than 10 movements, I should call my practitioner or immediately get admitted.

So, the last two days in my office, I've been busy recording the movement which is like every hour. LO would give sign of movement nearly every hour as if he knows what his mommy should do. This is kind of 'fun' as I take it seriously. Some friends I know do not really bother about this and would note their counts only by the end of the day. Maybe this is what a first-timer mom tends to do. More excited, I would say.

Ever since I do this counting activity, I become a bit paranoid of losing the LO. When he doesn't move, I'd shake my tummy a bit. So that if he's sleeping, he would at least respond back to me, then only I know he's there. Just now LO was quite for more than an hour. I started to worry. Instead of shaking, I just rubbed my tummy and said salam to him. Know what, he responded. It was so amazingly cute and relieving. (Ya Allah, please protect my LO..) Then I said "Okay I know you're there, now you can go back to sleep."

Story of the Fifth Antenatal Visit

MCPD: 23 weeks 4 days

Had the appointment in the morning. When I reached there the next number would be my turn. My bladder was bloody full but I held myself from going to the loo. Well, better than losing my turn. I was only called after 30 minutes of waiting, again with the full bladder. So the nurse checked my blood pressure. It was fine alhamdulillah. I did weigh myself and gained extra 3 kgs from last month.. which is a good thing. Today I weigh 55 kilos! She did palpation to measure the size of my uterus by checking the fundal height. She measured it three times and yet was not sure of it. Then I saw her referring to a more matured-look nurse (senior, I suppose). This one checked me and asked whether I had peed this morning or not. Embarrassing! After 'releasing' it all, went in back to the room and the nurse did again the measurement. She said it's still the same even after urinating that my uterus was measured bigger than it's supposed to be.

They referred me to the doctor. The next ultrasound was already scheduled on June but because of my bigger-than-my-week belly, I have one extra ultrasound in my schedule. So the doctor did the scanning this time. And again I could see LO for the third time! He was sleeping I guess, because almost every morning I hardly can feel him. I could see him moving maybe it's also because the doppler kept pressing on him. Based on the scanning the doc said there's nothing wrong with the baby or the position. So I shouldn't be worried. Was so glad everything turned out to be fine.

On the way to my office, I texted DH about this. He said LO is a good boy, he won't let us down. Those were some sweet supportive words. He's right, this baby has been nice so far. During my first trimester I can count how many times I have thrown up unlike other fellows which could throw up so many times in a day. And the LO never woke me up in the middle of the night by kicking my ribs (or maybe I sleep too soundly to be disturbed). I hope he is and will be a good person.. In the afternoon, DH told me he received a quite fabulous amount of bonus. Alhamdulillah. The little one's rezeki, I believe. Sayaang LO..

The Fourth Antenatal Visit

MCPD: 19 weeks 4 days

Went to my fourth antenatal visit. The LO was doing GREAT alhamdulillah. I heard his heartbeat again. He's healthy, no wonder he's been so active. My blood pressure was good. They did a thumb prick blood test, the result was fine. I got the second injection this time and it did hurt. I think it's an intramuscular injection, the needle was like 90-degree angle that it hit the muscle. *Ouch*. Normal injections weren't that bad. Since then I felt muscle spasm. Still painful. A little uncomfortable especially when driving cause the power steering seems to lose its power. Coincidentally I had to drive since DH went to Sabah. Luckily it was a day trip and he chose that cause he didn't want to leave me staying home alone. So he'll be driving to work tomorrow. I hope my arm will be getting better, the nurse said it'd last for 3 days!

When I'm writing this it's late already. I don't feel sleepy, of course cause I just woke up. I fell asleep after Maghrib and only woke up when DH came, felt exhausted. But I'm fine as long as the LO is doing great. And these are what I'm having, tasting ole-ole chocolate for pleasure at nearly two o'clock in the morning. By the way, I only took 4. ~