The Queens Medical Center has the ambiance of a relaxing hotel lobby in Waikiki and the posh atmosphere carries over to the Women’s Center. They don’t have a receptionist to check you in for your woman’s health procedures (ultrasounds, mammograms, etc.), they have a concierge. They have the right idea, women like to feel special and pampered — even when we’re having our boobs squashed. Luckily, I wasn’t there to get a mammogram. I was there to have a non-stress test (NST) and amniotic fluid index (AFI) evaluation done to check on the health of Baby Champuru.

The AFI was done via ultrasound. A technician measures the four quadrants of your uterus to determine whether your amniotic fluid is level is within the range — or if it’s too low or too high. A blood flow reading is also taken. The technician mentioned that Baby Champuru’s head has dropped pretty low and is facing the right direction (yay!), but didn’t offer much more feedback aside from that. She said that the doctor would interpret the ultrasounds and call my OB with the results.

Then they sent me upstairs to the 10th floor, Labor & Delivery unit to do the NST. The nurse set me up in a delivery room and strapped two monitors to my tummy. One monitored the fetal heart rate, while the other tracked my contractions. A blood pressure cuff was secured to my right arm and she gave me a button to press with my left hand each time Baby Champuru moved.

Lying on my back in the hospital bed was somewhat uncomfortable. After sleeping on my left side almost exclusively for the past 6 months, lying on my back feels strangely WRONG. About a third of the way through the test, I asked the nurse if I could elevate my legs since my lower back was getting sore. Besides that, Baby Champuru had only moved twice in the span of ten minutes and I was wondering if it was because I was lying on my back. She said that I could change positions, so I laid on my left side and sure enough, Baby Champuru started kicking my innards like a soccer ball again.

They monitored me for about a half hour. After the doctor analyzed my results, the nurse said that baby had passed the tests with flying colors and we were free to go. We left with instructions to return on Friday for another NST.

So far, so good. I’m hoping that Baby Champuru will decide to arrive before we have to induce. I always prefer to do things the more natural way — and the prospect of forcing my body into labor before it’s ready is not appealing to me at all.

9/22/08 Stats:
39 weeks and 5 days
Blood Pressure: 92/50
Weight gain so far: 12 pounds (gained 1 lb. since last appointment on 9/15/08)
Fetal Heartbeat: Good
Cervix Dilation: None

2 days away from my due date and I am still 0% effaced and 0 cm dilated.

I am scheduled for a Non-Stress Test (NST) and Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI) evaluation tomorrow, standard procedure for pregnancies that go past the due date. The doctor also scheduled an induction date of Friday, October 3, should Baby Champuru decide not to leave my uterus willingly. It must be cozy in there.

I’m a little concerned about the prospect of being induced, as I’ve heard that pitocin will cause contractions to be more intense. While I’m trying to avoid having an epidural, I’m afraid that the use of pitocin may necessitate it. At any rate, I’m not going to stress out about it, since dwelling on the what-if’s never help a situation anyway. I’m just taking things as they come and lifting my concerns to God.

I’ll update again tomorrow after the NST and AFI tests.

For those of you who are checking in to see if I’ve given birth yet…

I’m still here and Baby Champuru hasn’t hatched yet. I have an appointment with my OB tomorrow, so we’ll see if there’s been any progress with the dilation yet.

I will try my best to post an entry here to say that I’ve headed to the hospital, but your best bet will be to check out my Twitter page for updates, as I will be posting via TXT once the contractions start. If you have a Twitter account, you’ll be able to send me Direct Messages which I’ll receive and respond to via my cell phone. If you don’t have a Twitter account, why not? If you sign up, you can “follow” me to receive my updates on your timeline.

I’ll post an update tomorrow after my doctor’s appointment.

From week-to-week, the size of my tummy doesn’t seem to vary much in the photos — but if you saw me in real life, my stomach would be the first to greet you and you’d immediately notice how it has begun to pop out in the past few weeks.

I really regret not having done tummy shots from the beginning, but it took me a while to get over the modesty issue. Somehow the larger I get, the less shy I am about baring my belly all over the place. I think it’s because when you’re pregnant, you’re allowed — and encouraged — to have a plump paunch, so there’s absolutely no pressure to be packing perfect abs of steel.

I’m wearing my favorite Sharka t-shirt from Crazy Shirts in the photo above. As you can see, it’s pretty ill-fitting right now, but there was something in the back of my mind that made me think that I was still skinny enough to wear it when I pulled it out of my drawer.

People ask me how I’m feeling and all I can say is “great!” Thankfully, I really have no complaints. I still feel very mobile and comfortable considering I am one week away from my due date. I had visions of waddling around, holding my lower back, grunting and groaning all the way. The only problem I have is getting up out of chairs that sag (like the canvas folding chairs that we take to bon dances) and getting up from a lying position if I am flat on my back (such as when I’m at the doctor’s office). I am grateful that I’ve been able to avoid most of the the typical discomforts that plague some women late in pregnancy. Someone at work told me that it’s probably because I suffered with morning sickness for so long in the beginning (5 months), that I’m having an easier time in the tail end of the pregnancy. Hopefully that will carry over into my labor and delivery. One can hope, right?

So, the question is… will there be a week 40 photo?

9/15/08 Stats:
38 weeks and 5 days
Blood Pressure: 100/60
Weight gain so far: 11 pounds (lost 1 lb. since last appointment on 9/8/08)
Fetal Heartbeat: Good
Cervix Dilation: None

It appears that Baby Champuru has no intentions of putting in her change of address request just yet. My OB said that I am not dilated at all, the cervix is still completely closed. I have to say that I am really starting to dread those cervix checks. It hurts like a ninny! Those annual pap smears are a cakewalk compared to that.

As for my weight loss, I guess there must be something to this low-carb diet that I’m on to manage my gestational diabetes. The doc doesn’t seem at all concerned that I’m actually losing weight, 5 pounds since I peaked out at a 16-pound gain back in early August. I thought I was supposed to be gaining a pound a week, not losing. Every time I comment about my weight loss, she remarks, “that’s fine! I wish everyone could be on a low-carb diet!” As long as she’s not concerned, I guess I won’t be either. At least that means I have less weight to lose after I give birth to get back into my pre-pregnancy wardrobe.

My baby countdown ticker has broken into the single-digits at 9 days remaining to 40 weeks. All things considered, I don’t feel all that uncomfortable. I thought by now that I would surely be pleading with Baby Champuru to speed things along, but I’m quite content to let her come in her own time.

Looking back at my pregnancy, I have to admit that it’s been relatively easy and comfortable — once I got over the morning sickness, that is. And, truthfully, even the morning sickness wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Praise God! Now, I’m lifting up prayers for an uncomplicated and smooth labor and delivery!

Today was my last day of work and I’ll be off for six months, projected return date is the last week in March 2009. It will be strange not having to set my alarm clock for work five days a week, but in exchange, I suppose I will be waking up to the sound of a crying baby instead.

In the meantime, while Baby Champuru is still safely tucked away in my womb, I’ll enjoy being able to sleep until I can sleep no more. The thought of being able to sleep until I’m done sleeping, and not being rudely awakened by an alarm, is pure bliss.

Speaking of sleep, I’m going to get some right now. After going to bed between 1 am and 2 am every night this week to complete my work projects before my last day, I have some catching up to do. Good night.

2 more weeks to my due date! I wonder how many more of these photos I’ll be able to post before Baby Champuru arrives?