2003-07-30 - 5:28 p.m. - Cycle day: 35 weeks, 3 days

Oh, sweet, sweet air conditioning. I will never take you for granted again ...

The power finally came back on Monday morning, nearly six days to the hour after it went away. The Husband and I both woke up to the sound of the a/c gearing up. Then, just as The Husband yelled "Yeah, baby!" at the ceiling fan, there was a huge explosion and everything shut down again. We could see the transformer down the street spitting sparks and both of us were pretty close to crying. That had been the worst night so far - so sticky and oppressive that we slept in separate beds so we could each sprawl out completely and not come into contact with another inch of sweaty skin. The dog was panting so hard I don't think he slept a moment - even when he tried to put his head down and close his mouth, he kept making these loud snuffling noises. It was like the entire household was melting. But then about fifteen minutes after the big bang, the fan starting spinning again. I've never appreciated electricity more in my life. I don't know how we would have made it another day. Unfortunately, there are still 70,000 people in our area who still don't have power. I try to feel justified and tell myself that none of them is pregnant, but I have a feeling that probably isn't true. We just got lucky. We were powerless for under a week, and we don't have any damage to our home. We were very, very lucky.

In other good news, I had my 35 week OB visit today, and the stats look eerily familiar:

Weight:137.5 lbs.

Blood pressure: 106/72

Baby's heart rate: 140 bpm

Fundal height: 36 cm

Since I had so much free time to sit around and think baby things over the last week, I made a list of a few questions for the doctor. I asked if there were any specific nurses he'd recommend that we request at either of the hospitals we're considering. He said no, but that we should remind him when we're going in to call ahead for us and try to get a sympathetic nurse assigned (my doula told me she just attended a very oppositional birth, where someone even went so far as to tell the mother that she'd "set herself up" for the premature labor she was experiencing because she'd made a birth plan; I certainly don't want to go through that). I also asked what his Strep B routine is. Apparently he usually screens at 36 weeks, and with a positive result, he generally likes to do the antibiotic pre-dosing when mom goes into labor. He also said, however, that he's willing to use antibiotics on a case by case basis judging from risk factors (pre-term labor, extended rupture of membranes, etc.), and when I asked if it would be possible not to do the screening at all, he said he would trust my decision. He considers me a smart, informed patient, so when I said I wasn't sure that the risk of unnecessary exposure to antibiotics outweighed the benefits of screening, he respects that. I really appreciate that we can have that dialogue and I can have faith that he'll be flexible on the points where typical OB practice isn't always justified.

Next week, we begin the internal exams. I'm also planning to bring my doula and try go over some of the birth plan. Action-packed appointment. Never been big on the whole stir-up thing, but I have to admit I'm a little excited to get that week-by-week update on dilation status. Right now, I feel like anything could happen at any time. I think the internal exams will give me a better idea of what's really happening.

previous - next