Late Trimester Test: The Cervical Exam

  As your due date approaches, you’ll start getting more and more checks by your doctor.  Your appointment schedule will increase to every two weeks from around week 30, and then every week from around week 37.  In addition to the fetal heartbeat check, you’ll probably have your belly measured as well, and your provider will feel around your stomach to determine the baby’s position.  Some doctors might even do a vaginal exam for this, if they’re having trouble determining where the baby is. You’ll get your group B strep test, and this might also be around the time you’ll … Continue reading

More Fun Pregnancy Symptoms: Leg Cramps

In the middle of the night a few weeks ago I woke up with a terrible pain in my leg.  I cried out about it, and immediately began trying to rub and move my leg.  My more-than-half-asleep husband drowsily watched me do this.  He watched me try to bend my leg, to rub it, to put weight and hobble around the room on it.  When I made it to the bathroom he followed me, and asked me if I thought I was just having Braxton-Hicks.  In my leg.  Now we know that if I go into labor in the middle … Continue reading

Sometimes Pregnancy Seems Endless

This week last year, I was walking laps around my house, around the block, around the mall and just about everywhere else. I was massaging every square inch of my ankles and feet. I was ordering the spiciest burritos on the menu at San Jose’s. I was watching TV in a squatting position and mopping the floors full speed. I was doing all these things because I was 39 weeks pregnant and completely sick of it. At one point, I burst into tears and sobbed to my husband, “I don’t want to be pregnant anymore!!” The last few weeks of … Continue reading