Maternity Pictures and Weekly Checkup

Brandy: On Sunday, Brian and I had some maternity photos taken. I mentioned previously that we were going for something different... Well I think we achieved that! Our photographer is really amazing. She is very artistic and creative, and was wonderful to work with. http://www.sharonneelbagley.com/ First we shot at several outdoor locations downtown. After that we headed back to her home/studio for the "painted portraits". We went through a process were we were sprayed with water and had powdered paint thrown on us. You can see the results below! Sharon got the idea from the Holi Festival in India. There is a whole series of these pictures on her website under the color link. Here are just a few of our pictures... We will be getting more as they are edited, and I will post those later.

This morning we went into Dinah's office for our weekly checkup. I told her about what was going on with me. There is nothing really to complain about... just a few signs that things are moving along. I have been having a lot of cramps accompanied by lower back pain. Since Baby Markey is posterior, this makes total sense. I have also been having pain in my pelvic bone. Last Thursday I am pretty sure that I lost a small piece of my mucus plug. Dinah was really excited about that one! Sorry if that's TMI for some of you... At the moment these are not signs that birth will be happening immediately, BUT they are signs that my body is getting ready and preparing, which is nice to know. The first time Dinah took my blood pressure, the second number was slightly high. I had to get test my urine for protein, which was normal. She took my blood pressure again with another cuff, and this time both numbers were normal. Next, Dinah checked out Baby Markey. My fundal height is 36.5 cm, and the heart rate was in the high 160's. Baby Markey is still head down, but not engaged at this point. Also, Baby Markey is currently lying in a posterior position. This is not much of a concern at this point since the head is not engaged yet. I have been sitting/moving on the birth ball every night in order to encourage the baby to face the right way. Dinah said anything to move my hips was good for this. Lastly, we got the results of my strep B test, and it was positive. This does not mean I have a disease or illness. This is simply a bacteria that is present in a lot of women. On very rare occasions it can cause in infection in the baby if left untreated. Dinah waits until I am in active labor. She then gives me medication through an IV for 15 minutes. The process is repeated every 4 hours until the baby is here. She does not leave the IV in or even a HEP lock. This is fine with me because I don't want anything stuck in my arm for a long period of time. Bottom line, it is nothing to be concerned with. We just have to take an extra step once labor starts.