Pregnancy week 36: home visit with the midwife

**4 weeks to go! Well, 3.5… because this post is a little late **

She’s somewhere around 18.5 inches long and 6 pounds. At my appointment today, my midwife guessed she was 5.5 – 6 lbs. And YAY we’ve reached the point that I could still have a homebirth if I went into labor now (ya know, assuming all signs are fine).… because most babies born now do very well. But we still want her to keep cooking – have those lungs mature a bit more!

She’s getting pretty cramped. Usually your uterus fundus height equals how many weeks you are… so at 36 weeks, my uterus should be 36 cm… well, my midwife hit my xiphoid process (bottom of sternum/ribs) and couldn’t measure any further – at 34 cm. I’m short-waisted, I’m small, and I’m running out of space! lol. That’d explain the nearly constant heartburn and why it’s soo uncomfortable to lean forward at all.

She’s ROA: right occiput anterior. That means she is head down (whoo!) and her back is to my right side (feet on the left side). Some people liken this position to a posterior baby. That’s because babies don’t typically come out on the right side; optimal positioning it LOA (on the left side). SOO, this baby would turn counter-clockwise to get there, which means she has to basically move to the posterior position before ending up on the other side. Make sense? But I’m not worried. Her head isn’t engaged yet, she knows what she’s doing and my body knows what it’s doing

compare to week 36 from my last pregnancy!

Our midwife came to our house tonight for the home visit – like the practice run before the real thing! I gave her a tour of the house and showed her where all my birth supplies are (in case things are moving really quickly when she gets here for labor!). We did the normal prenatal stuff… and our doula was here too, which was awesome. The doula and midwife have met before, but I’m glad they got to chat a little tonight before the real thing.

Weight: 139 lb (up ~0.5 lb from last week and 32 lb overall)
Blood pressure: 120/60
Baby’s heart rate: 136

I did the swab to test for GBS (Group B Strep), we chatted about birth stories and fears, and I got some “homework” from my doula – working through fears, practicing relaxation techniques, etc. Oh and we paid off some birth bills – slowly crossing off my bucket list!

Not much time left! EXCITING!!!