"You're getting close!" My doctor says.

There are no sweeter words to a pregnant woman's ears...

Had my week 33 prenatal check up this morning and all is going well! Baby Asher is measuring right on track, my blood pressure is excellent and his heart beat is nice and strong. I even gained 2 pounds which I'm actually really happy about! I went the last month or more without gaining a thing and was starting to get concerned but it seems now I'm getting back on track with a pound a week. Or maybe it's all that Easter candy...

A few days ago I had horrible Braxton hicks contractions. They started while I was in the bath and got so bad that I had to get out, breathe through them and lay on my left side until they stopped an hour or two later. It was a painful reminder of what I'm going to be going through again soon. Shortly after this incident I started to feel a lot of pressure right on my pelvic bone and my need to pee increased greatly. My doctor confirmed this morning that Asher has found the 'sweet spot' and is getting into position. No, he hasn't dropped, but his head is right where it should be so that's super encouraging!

The liquid iron supplement that my doctor suggested to me has done wonders for my energy! It's expensive stuff and doesn't taste very good, but so worth it considering I feel 'normal' again! I haven't been sleeping well though and am up every night on average for an hour or two. I just can't get comfortable no matter how I lay down and then once I'm awake my brain is going crazy with thoughts. Pregnancy insomnia I guess. It really doesn't bother me too much though since I know my body is preparing for being up every night anyways.

My doctor and I even started talking about delivery today! We discussed the interventions that I am okay and not okay with (breaking my water is fine, but no pitocin unless absolutely necessary) and the idea of starting membrane sweeps at my 38 week appointment. Hoping for a week 39-40 baby this time around! My next appointment is in two weeks and then after that I will be seeing her weekly.

While I was at my appointment Noah did the traditional play time at the local McDonalds with Daddy. Afterwards we headed over to our friend and neighbours so the boys could play together and I could cuddle their adorable newborn baby girl. Noah didn't nap yesterday or sleep well last night, and half way through his story time upstairs he pointed to his crib and said, "Bed... bed..." So in he went and I haven't heard a peep from him since! Here's hoping he has a nice three hour nap ;)

Head down?

Had my latest prenatal checkup this morning! We've been booking them for first thing in the morning so that I am the first appointment of the day (usually around 8:30am) This works out great for us because Matt can take Noah over to the McDonald's play place during my appointment and pick me up half an hour later. It makes it a lot easier since this way Matt misses minimal work. I go every two weeks now, which means I'm getting closer to delivery, yay!!!

I'm doing pretty good! My blood pressure is excellent, I passed my gestational diabetes test and they've recently upped my thyroid meds. During my GD test they also checked my iron levels which I failed. Not surprising as I was anemic with Noah. So they are sending me off to test that again just to make sure it wasn't a result of the fasting I had done. If I fail again ill go onto extra iron supplements. Not a big deal.

My doctor did a good feel of baby Asher's measurements and based on my paperwork of where I was with Noah at this point, she thinks this guy won't be as big! I'm not measuring as large nor have I gained as much weight. This could of course all change over the next 2 months if he starts really packing on the pounds, but she's predicting a nice 8 pounder. We'll see!

And now for the big question... Is he still breech? As I said, she did a very good feel of my belly and his positioning. As far as she can tell he is HEAD DOWN! Yippee!! She is not 100 percent certain, but believes that it's his butt that I've been feeling sticking up. It would also make sense since his hiccoughs have been low. Of course he could still flip around into another position and they will check again at my next appointment, but they think he'll be good to go. Best news I could ask for really.

She also brought about the renal dilation reflux thing again and assured me that she sees it all the time in boys and that she doesn't anticipate it being an issue at all. She said the last time she actually had a baby born with this kidney issue it was a girl and the measurements during the ultrasound were quite significant. She told me not to even give it a second thought, so that's comforting.

All in all a great checkup! I will be seeing my family doctor next week for a checkup since I haven't seen him since December. Noah will also be getting his 18 month shot at this time, and Matt's coming, so I can leave the room haha.