some disappointment and some good stuff

So Jamie and I met with Dr. B today. After waiting over an hour to see him {and hoping it's my last appointment before we meet baby B} we finally sat down across from him in his office.
My blood pressure was high from when the nurse took it, so he took it again. When the nurse took it, it was 148/90 and then when the doctor took it, it was 130/80. The top number was slightly high for him so he said I need to get my blood pressure taken again next week and then we'll see where we go from there. In hindsight I shouldn't have had that cup of coffee this morning.

So no more caffeine for me, cutting back on sugar and trying to just take lots of deep breaths when my boys are both yelling at each other and me at the same time and I'm about to blow a gasket.
Hopefully that will help.

He didn't really have the doppler turned up so we couldn't really hear baby B's heartbeat very loudly, but he did keep moving it around as I knew B was moving quite a bit prior to the appointment.
He said the baby's head is down and engaged {hooray!} and he's more to my left side, than my right, but not posterior anymore {I figured he wouldn't be as he moves SO MUCH!}.

He said he could prescribe me some oral antibiotics to take care of the GBS so I don't have to get hooked up to an IV - hooray! That was definite good news and relieves some of the pressure I was feeling about getting to the hospital ASAP. I took my first pill tonight.

Unfortunately when I inquired about possibly getting a stretch and sweep he declined due to me being GBS+. I didn't want to be one of those know-it-all pregnant women and say that my midwives did 3 on me when I was pregnant and GBS+ with Jude. It's his prerogative and he just didn't feel like it was a good option with the GBS and the possibility of the bacteria creeping further up or being spread around or something. Now I'm just praying that God makes this baby come in good time and that I don't need any interventions.

He also prescribed me iron supplements which of course the pharmacy didn't have at the hospital so I'll have to get Jamie to pick me up some at another pharmacy. Hopefully tomorrow so I can start taking them.

And then I found out he's not counting my due date as September 1st!!! He's going by the day of my last period {as opposed to the ultrasound scan} which would put me at September 5th being my due date. WHAT?!? Psh. I'm still going by the 1st.
Anyway, so he mentioned at September 15th as a possible induction date {yech.} but if I'm still pregnant by September 15th I'll give myself a stretch and sweep.

Anyway so we booked my next appointment with him for the 10th and I told him I hope to meet him in the labour ward the next time I see him and not his office.

So I secretly was hoping for a stretch and sweep today, but no dice.
But I am encouraged to know that B's head is down and ready.

Oh and the doctor also asked how big my last baby was and said that this one is going to be a bigger one as well. My personal thoughts are that he's going to be 8lbs something, but I'm praying no more than that. I just think I was so much bigger when I was pregnant with Jude! But maybe I'll weigh myself after this because I'm pretty sure I have put on {or baby B has, at least!} more weight in the last couple weeks.

Anyway, so that's that. My 39 week + 3 day appointment. Or if you're going by the doctor's calculations, my 38 week + 6 day appointment. Psh.

again...

So I heard back from Dr. B.
Unfortunately I have low iron and am GBS+. Again.
And he wants to see me tomorrow (but despite my text asking him when tomorrow, I haven't heard back, so it might be deferred until my appointment with him next week? not sure.) so in the meantime I'm probably going to get onto iron supplements which is not going to help with the C-train that I've been riding off and on for the last couple weeks. Boo.
Fiber is my new best friend.

But I'm still getting tons of movement from Mr. Uganda (as our friend James refers to him which I think is hilarious). And yesterday and today I had a couple bouts of some pretty intense "twinges". I hesitate to call them contractions as I don't want to make you think that labour is imminent, but more that my body is just getting ready. Makes me wonder if I'll go pretty fast once he does decide to come. At one point I put my head on the back of the couch, stuck my butt out, and swayed back and forth for a minute or two.

Jude and Noah wanted to know what I was doing. They thought I was being funny. Perhaps I did look it.

It also made me think that I needed to talk more to them about what will happen when Jamie and I go to the hospital, but I don't want them to think I'm going to the hospital every time I walk out the door (which they already do and Noah thought I was telling him because tomorrow I'm going to the hospital to have the baby).  But we went through what would happen if we had to leave in the middle of the night and how Nick/Lisa would be staying with them and helping them with getting dressed and eating breakfast/lunch/dinner, etc.

I even made "Big Brother Bags" last night for fun and put in a few snacks, stickers and a new card game for each of them (Memory for Jude and Crazy 8's for Noah) which they'll get at some point - either once we're gone or if they come to visit us in the hospital (depending on how long I'm there for).

A couple nights ago I lay in bed thinking, "I'm not ready!" Not that I'm scared, but more just a realization of how far along I am already! I'm 38.5 weeks! How did I get here so quickly?!?
But the bassinet/pack 'n play is set up and my bags are packed and Nick is here, so...I guess it's just a matter of time although I'm fully expecting to go over due again and not feeling so grumpy about waiting as I was with Jude.

There's the update! Today was our one year anniversary of living in Uganda. We all went out for breakfast. I had a delicious latte and a waffle with ice cream. Ya that's right. Ice cream for breakfast. Boo yah.

test results

I sent Dr. Busingye a text today asking if he had received my lab results.

Low iron. Boo. 

He hasn't received any of the other results yet {like the GBS or urine analysis}. 

So we'll see. 

I'll probably have to go on some sort of iron supplements, but in the meantime, I should probably be more diligent to take my prenatal vitamins, yes? Yes. 

My bad.

appointment with Dr. B

So I met up with Dr. Busingye today. I waited for a bit, but was eventually able to see him about 30 minutes after the appointment was set.
While I was waiting, I could hear a woman moaning and crying out and screaming in pain - I didn't actually see her - likely she was in labour on her way up to the maternity ward? It kinda made me smile and kinda made me freak out. As if I need or want to hear anyone else in labour...sigh. Another reason to be a bit sad that I'll not be having a home birth.

But anyway, the appointment went fine. He seems nice, he went through my birth plan with me and re-took my blood pressure; the numbers had gone down from when the nurse took it so that seemed more acceptable to him.
Now I've never had a male doctor since I was little and no men {apart from my husband of course} have ever seen my nether regions but he did a swab to test for GBS and was very professional about it all. I guess it was bound to happen eventually if he's going to be delivering my baby!

Baby's heartbeat sounded good. I'm measuring at 37 inches (cm? I think it's inches) which is right on for 37 weeks and his head is down although he's slightly off-center though Dr. B said that's nothing to be concerned about. He moves a heckuva lot anyway so I'm not worried.

Afterward I went to the lab to get my blood work done {to test for HIV - apparently it's routine here, my iron levels and something else which I forget} as well as urine testing for my sugar levels I think and to take the swab in for testing. Unfortunately I hadn't brought enough cash with me so I had to leave and come back. Thankfully I didn't have to wait and was able to just go in and get it done right after.
There are definitely times I miss using my debit card to pay directly but for the most part, paying in cash is fine. As long as you have enough.

I got the updated price list for how much it costs to deliver at the hospital. We'll pay up front but then our insurance will reimburse us. 1.9 million shillings sounds like a lot, right? It's not. $775. To have a baby! That's crazy. And that's one of the pricier hospitals here in Kampala. When I think of my American friends who pay thousands of dollars to have their baby in the hospital, several hundred dollars is chump change. Sorta.

Now I need to lie down and rest. It's been a decent but slightly stressful morning - my first appointment that I drove myself to! I feel so independent. Ha.