The morning of our seventh prenatal visit has arrived far more quickly than I had anticipated. With my recent return home from an extended visit to my sister’s (ten hours away), I feel a bit disorganized and ill prepared for today’s appointment. Sleeping in certainly did not help my feelings of unpreparedness, as I rushed around preparing breakfast and getting things together for our visit (while my husband took a business call which threatened his ability to come to the appointment at all). In the end my husband inhaled his cold omelet and threw on some shoes just as our son and I were heading out the door.
We arrived at the carriage house with a few minutes to spare (thanks to several green traffic lights!). I immediately use the facilities to collect my urine sample and then meet my husband and son upstairs. Our son is already busy lining up all the baby dolls on the sofa. Meanwhile, our midwife tests my urine and it is once again perfect (all the colors match with no sign of protein or sugar). Then the midwife takes my blood pressure. I am still feeling a bit anxious and stressed but my blood pressure does not show any elevation and is well within normal range. Next I step onto the scale. I am anticipating little to no weight gain because I am still trying to “catch myself up.” Those baked goods I indulged in the last few weeks made an appearance on the scale with a three pound weight gain. I need to watch those indulgences more carefully in the next three weeks. The baking I did for my sister certainly did not help. Who can say no to fresh baked chocolate chip cookies warm from the oven? Not me! After the scale we chat about diet, exercise, supplements, headaches, and overall health. I have been keeping up on everything and have not experienced anything in the past three weeks out of the ordinary. Then, our midwife checks the position of the baby and she measures my fundal height; thirty-two centimeters! Finally, we listen to our baby’s heartbeat; it is strong!