"Big Noggin"

I got a call from my doctor's office saying that Dr. Norwood was going to need to do a surgery this afternoon, so I would need to come in right away if I wanted to see him (a little over an hour early). So I rushed out and got to the office within about 15 minutes, but he had already left. I ended up seeing one of his associates, Dr. Shannon McCants.

She. Was. Awesome. She's YOUNG, I would guess early 30s, and totally down-to-earth and unpretentious. She told me she chose Dr. Norwood to deliver both of her own children, which was a great sign for me! She was very encouraging and positive. I was concerned that I had gained a couple of pounds since I saw Dr. Norwood about two weeks ago. She said basically that it's summer and I'm almost eight months pregnant, so I'm going to be carrying around some extra water weight and I need to not worry about the numbers on the scale. I'm still well within the healthy range, but it's bizarre to feel like gaining a pound or more every week is okay and normal!

I asked her about this thing the baby does where he'll just start shuddering really dramatically for several seconds. I hate sounding like a worrywart, but it feels like a seizure, you know? She said that's perfectly normal and is just the sign of a developing nervous system. It's not a seizure.

I also asked her about the hiccups, and if me feeling them in different places (not just my lower abdomen) means he is not head down all the time. She said he's going to be able to move around for a couple more weeks before he runs out of room, so it's very possible that he would be rotating positions. That's different from what Dr. Norwood told me a couple of weeks ago (he said once they find the head-down position, they like to stay there since it's comfortable). But it makes sense, based on what I'm feeling. Plus, it's no secret that our guy likes to move... I have been feeling him do acrobatics in there since 16 weeks. They can turn him to head down as late as 38 or 39 weeks, so she just said don't worry about it.

My doctor's nurse had told me at my last visit they would do an exam and draw blood this week, but they ended up deciding to wait until I'm 35 weeks and my doctor is back in the office. So it was a pretty easy visit. We heard the heartbeat (it was varying between 150 and 160 bpm) and she pointed out where his butt was. :) The baby was head down during the appointment, and when she found his head, she said, "There it is, what a big noggin!" Groannnnn. Just what I need after hearing last week that his head is really hard, too.

She didn't measure my belly but seemed pretty comfortable with everything. Great "bedside" manner... If my doctor were to retire, Dr. McCants would be an awesome choice for our next baby. She said she may be working weekends in July, which would mean she COULD deliver the baby (since my doctor only works weekdays). I'd be okay with that.

Next appointment is in two weeks, then after that I'll start going every week! It's really getting exciting!