If I get nervous

I have found that when I start feeling nervous about labor or taking care of the new baby that all I have to do is read some blogs. That's right! Read blogs. I have a few favorites at Babes in Blogland that I read regularly, and some that I read periodically. Seems like everyone has the same fears/concerns/worries that I do. That makes me feel better!

We had another appointment today at the Birth Center. She measured me and took my blood pressure and such, the usual things. Everything was normal. The raisin's heartbeat was normal. She felt around and found out that he is in the head down position now, with his back along my left side. That explains why almost all the movement is on my right...he's got arms and legs flailing over there! The midwife (who was very nice and informative, as I will discuss later) said that is the best position for him to be in for the easiest birth. Hooray! The raisin is already smart!

I asked the (very helpful, informative) midwife about the achy/crampy feeling I've been having lately. First let me tell you, it is very hard to explain what it feels like...it's not like "the cramps" but it's like the feeling I get the few days before my period starts, like pre-cramps...anyway, it happened every night for a few days so I was worried. She said that as long as it isn't intermitent cramps then I should be ok. So as long as it stays a constant ache then it's normal. Also, I do some labwork every appointment. I have to pee in a cup and swish this little paper sticky thing around in it and then record the results. Anyway, for the last 3 appointments I've had elevated leukocytes. I asked about this, because it doesn't seem normal to me. She asked if I had any pain or burning when I pee, to which I answered (honestly) that no I didn't. She then said that sometimes the elevated leukocytes are a sign of a bladder infection, but if there were no symptoms then it was probably just a contaminated sample or some such thing and not to worry.

She said that sometime in the next 2 weeks I need to decide if I want to have the Strep B test. She said that it will find out if there are nasty little bacteria waiting to attack the raisin when he comes out. If you do have it then they give you antibiotics while you are in labor, which SHOULD prevent anything happening to the baby. She also said that if the test is positive then I won't be able to have the baby at the birth center. It isn't a required test, so I'm not sure if I will do it yet. Apparently the results of the infection if the baby does pick it up are quite serious, but only a few women carry it (10 - 30%), and only .5% of them have babies who get the infection. It sounds like a super small percentage to me, but I'm going to do plenty of research before I decide one way or the other.