Last Friday, I went to the private doctor's office. I was less than impressed for the second visit in a row, and I'm still trying to decide whether or not to bother going for my next, and last, visit there.
I was told to get there at 7PM, when I would be hooked up to a "monitor," and that my regular visit would start at 7:30. When I arrived, I had to wait until the girl who was in there finished up, and was then told I could go into the room with the monitor. I was told to sit down on a recliner chair, and they sat me back and put gel on my belly, and hooked up two different sensors under belts strapped around me. I could hear the heartbeat and the movements of the baby. I was given a button to hold and press whenever I felt the baby move. I was to be in there for 15 minutes. After about 10 minutes, they did what they called a stress test, and pushed on a buzzer that sounded very loudly near my belly. That made the baby, and me, jump. I was to continue monitoring his movements for another 5 minutes or so.
He was very active while I was there, something that is very frequent when I am lying down.
Anyways, once that was done, a printout of the session was given to the doctor, and I was told to go in. He looked at the printout, and told me that everything looked good. The baby's heartbeat stayed within the range it should be throughout the 15 minutes, including the stress test. He also showed me where I had contractions, and asked me if I had felt them. I told him that I didn't know, because I don't really know what contractions are supposed to feel like, and that I just figured everything that I felt was just the baby moving. They weighed me (up another 3.5 kilos!!!) and did another ultrasound, and everything looked good, as usual, but we didn't get a good look at the baby. He didn't seem to try as hard at this visit to see his face either, and the baby's hands and feet were over his face whenever we got a look at his head. he took the usual measurements, and sent us on our way. He told us to schedule our last appointment for 4 weeks from now. 
On the one hand, there is only one visit left, so maybe I should go just to see what he has to say. Most people have advised me to go, just to "quedar bien." On the other hand, I doubt that I'll learn anything new. Since I don't have a "doctor," and he won't be at the birth, there's really no need to keep up appearances with him anymore. I don't think that there's really a need for another ultrasound, and I definitely don't think the monitor is as necessary as the doctor seemed to say. I'd lose out on having the dvd of this last visit, but it's not like we got to see anything interesting anyways. They already lost the dvd of one of the two best appointments. The baby constantly moves, and I can feel it, and I know that everything is going well. Had I thought that the visit was important, I have no problem in paying a little extra to assure that all goes well for both the baby and me. I'm just not as happy at that office anymore, though, and would rather spend the money on other things for the baby. :)
We'll see. I'm going to try to ask other girls who have gone there if they do anything special on the last visit, and if not, I may just save my money.
Anyways, the weekend went well, and we actually relaxed a bit more than we usually do on the weekend. Mauri has realized that I just can't do as much as I usually can, and knows that I feel guilty sitting around if he's working on something, so, while he did get a few little things done around the house, he also took time off to relax with me.
On tuesday of this week, I hit the 33 week point. I also had my third class with the midwife. Despite the fact that there had been a full moon the night before :), the girl who was now 40+ weeks, was still quite pregnant and at the class. The girls who had hit the 39 week point were also still all there. Many people seem to think that there are more births around the time of the full moon, and I hear that my cousin, in Sevilla, was also waiting for the full moon, because she is also at full term by now. It seems, though, that this full moon hasn't helped anyone that I know too much.
Luckily, some of the girls weren't there because we had 2 new people, and there wasn't room for anyone else. This week, instead of starting out talking, we started out with the exercises. I wasn't feeling that well when I arrived, and felt a little bit dizzy during the first few exercises when we were lying on the floor doing deep breathing. I just wanted to sit up!! Luckily, I got through it, and felt a little bit better when we got to the rest of the exercises.
Once they were done, the midwife decided to show us some accupuncture points that can be massaged to help relieve the pain of the contractions when we go into labor. We were told to show them to our husbands (or partners), so that they could do the massages when the time comes. The midwife admitted that she likes alternative treatments, and we spent awhile trying out the points on each other. I have to admit that I like her better each time I go. Meanwhile, she made us copies of the diagrams, and also made us copies of the diagrams of other points that can be used to help relieve insomnia, since that seems to be quite common in the last few weeks of pregnancy.
This morning (Thursday), I had to go in again for my last analysis. First, I was supposed to go up to the midwife for the GBS test. I decided to take advantage of the time with her to ask her a little bit more about who would be there at the hospital. She said that there are several midwives, but that she is only there on Fridays, and that the other midwife that has appointments and classes never goes to the hospital. I told her it was because I liked the fact that she had liked alternative treatments, and that I was worried about how doctors seem to intervene in births with inductions and c-sections much more often lately. She assured me that most of the midwives are less likely to push for that, but that if you get an epidural, you will have a doctor watching you more closely, and it is more likely that they will intervene with an induction or c-section. She said that the midwives will mostly leave you alone if that's what you want, and that is what I think I want. :)
I guess that's just one more reason to try to avoid the epidural if at all possible. I told her about how I had always wanted to have a water birth, and she reminded me that as long as I was at home, I could use the tub to help calm the first contractions. Since I live in Denia, and am relatively near the hospital, I can wait until active labor to actually go to the hospital. That made me happy.
She gave me the two tubes with the swabs from the test to bring down to the blood analysis with me.
So, I was to brave the analysis "line" one last time this pregnancy. I don't know if it was because of the summer, or what, but it seems that a lot of people hadn't showed up for their appointments. They called out a lot of names, but only about half of the people were actually there to get in line. I was actually quite happy about that, because I was the last in line. I guess they put you at the end because they know you have to go up to the midwife before going back down for the analysis, but I'm not really good about being on my feet for long periods anymore, and their stupid long line is no exception.
Anyways, about an hour after having arrived at the center, I was done with it all. I had been expecting things to be a lot more complicated, and a lot worse, so I was actually very happy with today's visit.
As for me, all is going well. I try not to stay on my feet for extended periods of time because my feet get really sore really quickly. I still get out of breath quickly, and my worst annoyance is probably having to go pee every two minutes. (tmi?) I'm also starting to get the swollen hands, accompanied by hands that feel numb or asleep when I use them too much, and swollen feet that can be expected during the last weeks of pregnancy. Otherwise, though, I'm feeling pretty good, and all is going well. I really can't complain, and just try to take it easy by doing a few things at a time, and resting in between.
I guess I don't have much more to tell this week. So, I'll leave you with the 33 week email.
How your baby's growing:
This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.
How your life's changing:
As your baby fills out even more of your belly, lots of things might start to change: Whereas before you were sashaying, you may find yourself waddling. Finding an easy position to sit in — let alone sleep — is becoming more of a challenge. And bumping into chairs and counters is par for the course.
You may be feeling some achiness and even numbness in your fingers, wrists, and hands. Like many other tissues in your body, those in your wrist can retain fluid, which can increase pressure in the carpal tunnel, a bony canal in your wrist. Nerves that run through this "tunnel" may end up pinched, creating numbness; tingling, shooting or burning pain; or a dull ache. Try wearing a splint to stabilize your wrist or propping your arm up with a pillow when you sleep. If your work requires repetitive hand movements (at a keyboard or on an assembly line, for instance), remember to stretch your hands when you take breaks — which should be frequently.
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