February 21st...

Today we had another non-stress test and an appointment with Dr. White. The NST went well and the baby's heart still seems fine. I had a few contractions during the NST, one of which I felt - BIG time. Dr. White asked if I felt them and I told her that I felt only one and I have been feeling one to two a day, once I figured out what they feel like. She said it was normal to even have one to two an hour, but more than that and I need to call her immediately!

(The peak in the picture is the contraction!!! WOW!)

His heart rate was 135, but obviously kept fluctuating during the NST. You can hear his heartbeat in the video. He is also moving a lot! I measured 36, which is interesting because we are only 34 weeks tomorrow. Dr. White said he should be somewhere around 5 lbs. by now. I had only gained one pound since last visit, which brings my total weight gain to 28 lbs. She laughed when she checked my belly. She said it is ALL baby and everywhere she felt, all she felt was baby! She was very happy with both of our health. She said the baby was "sassy" and she loves sassy. I think she said this because he moves around A LOT! She still says that means he is happy and healthy.

She felt it wise to go ahead and schedule the induction date. So, as long as we don't go before, our baby's birthday is scheduled for February 21st. We have to be at the hospital at 6:30 AM to start the induction process. She thinks this is best, due to the fact that he will definitely be ready and will be more than big enough. She scheduled another ultrasound in two weeks to double check his progress, but is expecting him to be at least 8 lbs. at birth!

We took a tour of the LDR (labor-delivery-recovery) and postpartum rooms tonight. We had been in the postpartum rooms before, when my friend April had Paige, but had not seen the LDR rooms and all of the other various parts of the hospital. It was nice to see what we are going to experience. I did fine, although I got a little freaked out when they showed us the recovery rooms from the c-section operating rooms. Let's just all pray that I don't have to have a c-section. I know it is very common, but it still freaks me out a little. I talked to Dr. White about an epidural and she told me the IV hurts much worse than the epidural. Of course, I have never had anything like any of this. Goodness, I never even had my blood drawn until I became pregnant!!! Seeing all of this and choosing his birthday, makes it all completely real now. Our precious baby is coming four weeks from tomorrow, unless before!!!