Hardheaded Baby, part II

Hard-headed? (A moai at Easter Island.)

Another appointment this morning! It was nice to see Dr. Norwood again. He asked if I was excited that I am in the last month, and I said yes... I told him I've been pleasantly surprised at how quickly the days are passing. He checked my ankles and fingers for swelling, and when there wasn't any, he congratulated me for taking good care of myself, then followed that up with a signature Dr. Norwood mega-compliment: "You should be a maternity model!" Love him.

Again, no real news this time. I thought they'd be doing pelvic exams weekly at this point, but I was surprised to learn Dr. Norwood doesn't do those until 39 weeks unless there's a reason to suspect a problem. At first I was disappointed, but after thinking about it more, it's probably better... that way I won't be making myself crazy over the numbers (what percentage effaced I am, etc.).

I can tell you that the baby has not dropped yet (according to Dr. N, "His head's still pretty high up there"), the heartbeat was strong at 150 bpm, and my Group B Strep and HIV tests came back negative (to which Dr. N said, "You'd be checking Brad's Twitter account if the HIV test had a different result!").

But the Group B Strep result is really good news. That means if my water breaks at home, I don't have to rush to the hospital for antibiotics; I can wait out a lot of the early labor at the house. And of course it's less risk for the baby.

Oh, and if I end up having a C-section (PLEASE AGAIN PRAY THAT I DON'T!!!), Dr. Norwood agreed to apply the product my company makes that helps those incisions heal faster. So that's good!

So the reason for the title of this post: When Dr. Norwood felt my belly for the baby's head, he AGAIN said, "Whoa, that is a HARD head!" and then he made me feel the head so I could see what he was talking about (it freaks me out to press that hard into my stomach). And yup, it was a rock-hard head. Whereas last time I joked about it with him, this time I told Dr. Norwood, "That is NOT what I want to hear." He said, "Why not? You don't want a soft-headed kid!" And I said, "Actually, I do... I want his head to be like a sponge until he is out of me!!!" I just think about ALL of the babies' heads the this doctor must feel, and he is SHOCKED at how hard Baby G's head is. And recall that Dr. McCants remarked at how "big" the baby's head was, too. Oh well. I hear childbirth is supposed to hurt, so... yeah. :-/

BUT: I am focused on reading positive birth stories over the next few weeks and just not being scared. I have been blissfully confident about this whole "labor" thing for months, and now that everything is more or less done -- nursery complete, bags packed, car seat installed, etc. -- I find myself having more time to think about scary stuff like pain and complications. I am determined not to let that doubt creep in, and I want to replace it with prayer and positive thoughts!