36 Week Appointment

This weeks appointment was embarressing and painful. My OBGYN did a cervical checkup and also swabbed the cervix and rectum for bacteria that may be harmful to baby. Checking for bacteria is pretty standard. However, it was SO uncomfortable, and I felt really sorry for my poor male OBGYN who had to deal with a squirming patient who acted like she was in labor while he poked around down there. Afterwards he said "Well if you find a simple cervical exam painful, then most likely you'll need an epidural during labor. It'll help when the muscles down there start to stretch."

BLAH. I hated being told that, but what can I do. Usually during my normal gynelogical exams in life I wasn't exactly in paradise, but at least I could bear it enough through the exams. Pregnancy has just made every tube and crevice in my body SWOLLEN so things hurt ten times more. So when doctor sticks his finger up there, it feels 10x more sensitive. Blargh. I can't wait until labor when they check the cervix dialation periodically with their fingers...it's going to SUCK.

Otherwise the heartbeat of baby and my blood pressure was fine. I mentioned that baby's kicks had slowed down, but that I thought it was due to his lack of room (he doesn't kick as much anymore, he just adjusts his position and moves). Doc decided I need a non-stress test (NST) which measures the baby's kicks and heartbeat. So for the next 3 appointments I'll be seeing the OBGYN for the standard checkup and also getting hooked up to a monitor for 20 to 60 minutes for the fetal NST. It'll be boring, but as long as it's painless (compared to everything else in labor!) and good for baby I don't mind. My Mom constantly asks about baby's movement during the final month, I guess it's super important.

The doctor also said that baby should kick more after small meals throughout the day. However I find that I feel the most movement from baby when I'm hungry, like baby's telling me "Go eat already damn it!" I also feel baby move when we are watching TV or listening to music.