38 weeks pregnant: OB pregnancy appointment, date night, & my labor dream

I had a great appointment today at 38 weeks pregnant.  I can’t believe I’m so close!

At my appointment last week, at 37 weeks pregnant, my OB said that she would rather him come anytime after 38 weeks.  I asked her why since I thought that 37 weeks was full-term.  (Of course my preference would be for him to stay put until closer to 40 weeks.)

She said that while it is full-term, in her experience, little white babies born at 37 weeks are usually wimpy (ex, they don’t breastfeed well, they have trouble breathing at times, etc).

Of course I asked her what babies do the best and she said that African American boys do the best, then African American girls.  Clearly she’s just talking about her own experience delivering babies, but I thought that it was interesting.

Now that I’m 38 weeks pregnant the chances of our son being “wimpy” have gone down.  Yay!

Pregnancy Weight: 38 weeks of pregnancy is being kind to me!  I stayed the same weight as last week.  This actually amazes me considering how much dessert I’ve had lately.  It’s been at least daily, sometimes twice a day.  I told Tarzan that it would be so nice to be able to be skinny and have dessert daily without worrying about weight.  Too bad that I’m not that kind of girl though.

Blood Pressure: 95/58

Baby’s Heartbeat: Started off in the 130′s and then was in between the 140′s and 150′s.

Baby’s Position: Head down.  He’s not going anywhere!  Right where he needs to be at pregnancy week 38.

Weeks my belly is measuring at: 37.5 weeks.  She said that he has clearly dropped and that’s the reason for this measurement.

Internal: Just a teeny tiny bit more pressure than the last two times, but nothing to write about.  There was a little bitty spot of blood on the glove when she removed her hand, so she said not to worry if there is a little spotting in my panties.

Internal stats: 80% effaced still.  Cervix OPEN.  -1 station.  Dilated 1 cm.  (Now I know that these stats do not mean that I’m going into labor any time soon, but I still think it’s cool that my cervix is finally open.  I bet it was due to sex that we had.  I wanted to have sex and then see if my cervix would be open by the time of my appointment.  Hmm.)

Baby’s Momma: I’m doing wonderful and enjoying being 38 weeks pregnant!  I have so much energy and am still sleeping well at night.  My anxiety is dropping for the most part (thank you Benadryl) and I’m so excited to get closer and closer to my due date.  I’ve been out with friends a lot this week and have had fun, knowing that hanging out like that might not be the easiest thing to swing in the next few weeks/months.

Stretch Marks: Not a one.

Belly Button: In, but you can see the inside when you look in the hole.  Also, my belly button hole has stretched beyond belief.  It looks really funny.  Could not have imagined if I would have ever gotten a tattoo on my lower hip.  It would be HUGE by now.

Next appointment: July 17th.

Big milestones this week: Having the final dressed up date night with my husband before we are parents to a living human, which is really crazy to think about.

38 weeks pregnant and yes, the emotions still running high.  In the car last night, as we were driving to the restaurant, I was just thinking about how much life will change when our baby is here and I got tears in my eyes.  Not sad ones, but happy and excited ones.  I’ve really come a long way from when I initially found out that I was pregnant.  I’m a whole new girl now, and while I can’t wait to meet our little guy, it’s also crazy to think about our life changing so much so soon.  Nine months really isn’t a long time at all – It goes by so quickly.  I am so glad that Tarzan and I got to have a nice date last night.

We went to a great place for dinner and then saw the Phantom of the Opera.  We had a wonderful dinner, complete with a great dessert, and then sat back in our seats to watch the Opera.

Oh, and an extra plus was that people were totally smiling at me while looking at my bump.  It made me feel really good.  One lady even gushed over me and told me that I was so gorgeous over and over.  I told her to “keep on going”.  No joke.  LOL.  I did feel really pretty and it was a great compliment to get from a stranger.

(I even got 2 compliments in the waiting room at my OB’s office today.  Maybe you just have to hit the 38 weeks pregnant mark to get continuous compliments… or maybe they just felt sorry for me being so pregnant.  I’m going to go with the first option!)

My labor pregnancy dream: So last night I had a dream…  about labor.  It was my first ever dream about labor and I’m thinking that I need to pack that damn hospital bag now, just like I promised my husband.  It wasn’t a bad dream at all, perhaps just a sign letting me know that I need to get my ass in gear about the bag.

Tarzan and I were at home and my water broke.  While waiting for my OB to call us back, we packed our hospital bags and then took off to the hospital.

Then I woke up.  The bed was dry.

You might also want to read:

1. 33 weeks pregnant: Disturbing dream about labor and delivery
2. 37 weeks pregnant: Full term OB pregnancy appointment
3. 34 weeks pregnant: OB pregnancy appointment
4. 39 weeks pregnant: OB pregnancy appointment
5. Signs of labor during pregnancy: Bowel movements, cramping, and spotting, oh my!

Tagged as: 37 weeks pregnant, 38 weeks pregnant, doctor appointment, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Week-By-Week, Pregnancy Weight