Fetal Monitoring

Yesterday I had an OB appointment...just the standard variety. Ajay's Mom Maya joined me and was able to meet my OB, which was nice.

A couple of things came out of today's visit...my blood pressure was in great shape after it was in the normal/high range last time, so I felt pretty good about it returning to it's normal/low typical range. Also Dr. K told me that after giving my situation some thought, she was going to start me on fetal monitoring beginning next week. Apparently fetal monitoring involves hooking me up to the same monitoring equipment that they hook laboring Moms up to, and monitor how everything is going in there for a given amount of time. After the amount of time passes, and observing healthy baby's activity levels, they can be fairly certain that the baby will fare well over the next 72 hours...so she'll have me go in twice a week for the next couple of weeks just to help me with peace of mind for the remainder of the pregnancy.

At this point, being 37 weeks, we're in the clear...if anything should go wrong during this monitoring, we just move forward now with the C-section to alleviate any risk. Which brings me to my second topic of today's learning experience at the OBs....during the routine pre-birth pelvic exam, Dr. K told me she was really glad that we had already decided on a C-section because while the term wide-birthing hips definitely applies to me at this stage, I don't have much pelvic height at all, and she said trying to have the baby the old fashioned way would have been a very challenging process for me. She went on to say that it's not so much pelvic width as it is height that determines how easily the baby comes out.

So while I'm not a girl that feels "robbed of the experience" of delivering the old fashioned way, it does make me feel more assured that I made the right decision for me for what seems to be now a variety of reasons...and no, I'm not trying to sell anyone else on my decision...everybody has their own desires and opinions when it comes to the delivery process. I was just glad to hear that there are several reasons that this is the right choice for me.