Another healthy checkup

We had our Week 31 checkup with the midwife today. Everything's looking good. My blood pressure is still nice and low, baby's heart is beating at a good rate, and my weight gain isn't too crazy. I've already gained 25 lbs. so far! The target gain is 25-35 lbs. for someone with my starting BMI, so my guess is I'll be on the upper end of the target range. They say between now and the end you pretty much gain a pound a week. That might explain why I feel and sound like an elephant clomping around the house. The whole floor seems to shake at my every step.

I got one piece of very happy news. The baby has turned, so she is in position for birth. I'm proud of the little darlin for being so on top of things! There's no guarantee she'll stay put between now and showtime, but somehow it puts my mind at ease. If you're baby is breech they pressure you big time to get a C-section, and I would really like to avoid that.

The midwife shared with us another interesting tidbit. She said first babies tend to be late, especially in moms whose normal cycles are longer than 28 days. (I have very long cycles.) She said don't circle your due date on the calendar and think that's when baby will show herself; pretty much add two weeks to your due date. We'll just have to wait and see.

If she is a little later, that might give us a chance to get settled in a new house before she comes. The seller of the duplex we put an offer on accepted our offer! We go Thursday for the inspection, and I plan to take some pictures then. I warn you, it ain't much to look at right now. But it has good possibilities.

Oh and the other nice thing that happened at my visit today was the midwife gave the birth plan I wrote 2 thumbs up. What, praytell, is a birth plan you ask? They're all the rage these days; it gives control freak first time parents like us a chance to put our two cents in with the medical staff before they come after you with the pitocin and the forceps. Birth plans are supposed to convey your wishes for the birth; they have, however, developed kind of a sour reputation among many medical people who get tired of hearing "don't do this" and "don't do that." I tried to write a plan that conveyed our preferences while at the same time acknowledging the expertise of the medical staff. I'm just glad our midwife liked it!