22 Weeks!

22 Weeks! Although technically, I'm a day early. My doctor (mid wife) looked at my due date again yesteray and it's now July 11th. I guess the ultra sound tech had rounded up by saying I was 20 weeks at the appointment. In the system it showed 19 wks 5 dys. I'm still betting on July 9th. Anyway, they said they hardly ever change it in the system, but if I'm sure about when my last period was then they'd change it. So, here we are...July 11th is now the final date. Apparently they won't be changing it again.

How baby Gill's growing:

At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment.
If you could see inside your womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Yesterday I had my monthly check up with my doctor. Justin normally goes to every appointment, but was unable to attend this one. While I was disappointed at first I had to remind myself that he's been to all the others and not every husband is able to go to every single appointment. However, I am extremely grateful for the times he can go. These monthly check ups are usually pretty quick. They check my blood pressure, weight, baby's heart beat and a couple of other things. My appointment yesterday went great! The mid wife said I was very healthy and things were moving along smoothly (that's always a relief to hear).
I don't know if I've mentioned it in previous blogs but we are trying to figure out which hospital I should deliver at. Let me break it down. We have full coverage on Justin's insurance through Kaiser (this is where I've currently been going). If I deliver at Kaiser we won't pay a dime, not even a co-pay. Nice, right? Well, the other hospital, Sharp Mary Birch specializes in women and newborns, more specifically, deliveries. In fact, all they do is deliveries. They don't see other patients except for expecting mamas. I am able to use my insurance through work to go there, however, we will end up having to pay out of pocket for some of the expenses. At most it sounds like we would pay $2,000. It probably doesn't sound like much when comparing the two hospitals (especially considering Kaiser is one of them), but $2,000 is $2,000 and we have a ton of other stuff coming up that we'll have to pay for. So in the meantime I'm trying to find every positive aspect about Kaiser, but even Justin thinks Mary Birch is the way to go, it's just the financial part. I'm still looking into other ways we could cut the cost on that (ex: will Kaiser help cover the bill?) One last note on the two places. At Mary Birch I'm guaranteed to have my own room for recovery. At Kaiser there's a chance I could end up in a shared room (depending on how busy they are). From what Kaiser tells me July is very busy!

Back to the appointment:
In trying to find more positive things about Kaiser I decided to ask the midwife some questions that have been on our minds.

1) C-sections - are you quick to jump to doing a c-section.
MW (midwife) Response: "Oh no, not unless it's absolutely necessary. Why do you want one".
My response: I'd prefer not to.

2) Epidurals - are you big on epidurals?
MW Response: "Only if you want one. We will not force you to have one".

3) Episiotomy - Is this guaranteed?
MW Response: "Absolutely not. We rarely ever do episiotomy's."
My response: "What about tearing? Don't you heal better if you're cut, not that I'm encouraging it".
MW Response: "You are really healthy and won't be having a 9 lb. baby. I don't think it will be necessary for you to have an episiotomy. I also don't think that you'll tear because you're healthy and you exercise. If you do tear it would be very small."
My thoughts - my tear would be small? I don't want to tear at all. Crying on the inside.

4) Prenatals and Iron - My prenatals don't have any iron in them. Should I be taking a supplement?
MW Response: "What?! I'm glad you mentioned this. You need to switch your prenatals. You would have been anemic by next month!"
My Response: Wow, I thought I was taking good prenatals. I've had friends recommend them and I see them in magazines (could I have sounded any more incompetent?)
MW Response: Blank stare. "Buy the ones in the pharmacy downstairs. Stop taking the other ones".
My thoughts: Poop, I really liked the other ones. They are gummy and taste like candy. Just goes to show you that things that taste too good to be true probably are. :/

Overall I do feel better about the questions I asked. At least I know what to expect. I didn't want someone who was going to be pro c-section right off the bat and trying to rush home for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, last night I got to have dinner with grandma Sharon, grandpa Bob, grandma Jackie, and uncle Joe! I haven't seen grandma Jackie in a couple of years, and I haven't seen uncle Joe in probably two decades! We had such a wonderful time. They are going to be in San Diego for a couple days, so I drove down to Coronado where they are staying and we had Mexican food for dinner. Again, it was such a great evening.