36 week appt.

Yesterday was our 36 week appt. This was the final 'big' appt. before D-day. I had the Group-B Strep test and discussed our labor plans. Group-B Strep for those who are interested is just a bacteria that is colonized in some women and not others, it can show up in one pregnancy but not another and has nothing to do with a sexually transmitted disease although some think that it is, but does occur through sexual contact. I will find out in one week if I tested positive or not. If I did test positive, that would mean going to the hospital right away when/if my water would break so I could be placed on antibiotics (usually Penicillin, but I am allergic). The bacteria does not affect me in any way but the baby does not have the proper immune system to fight it off so it would be important to make sure that the necessary precautions are taken since it could ultimately result in death of the babe (VERY serious cases).

We also talked about labor and the 'myths' that we were told at our medical-based prenatal class. Our midwife was not too happy with some things that we were told about labor. Instead of calling triage when our contractions are 5 minutes apart, the midwife does not want us to call in until they are 2-3 minutes apart so labor can progress more at home in a comfortable environment (although this would be different if the GBS test came back positive and my water broke). And we don't call triage, we call the midwife on-call so they can give us advice instead of a triage nurse who is more medically-based and would encourage us to come in. The midwife will then call triage when it is time for us to come in. The L&D nurse that taught our class told us that we had to deliver on our back, knees against chest (which we knew was not accurate). Of course, our midwife laughed and said that we could do whatever we wanted: the tub, side-lying, using the squatting bar, birthing stool, etc. unless we had an epidural: then we would be confined to the bed and in positions that didn't require bearing weight on our legs. Another reason I hope to go all natural, more choices!

The baby is still head-down and the midwife did not foresee him/her turning at this point in time, so we are still already to go. The heart-rate was in the 140's which is borderline girl and boy according to the old wive's tale. Appts. are every week now until the big day and we have them all scheduled, unless I go past 40 week, woo hoo!