Moral of the story

Today I learned two things:

1) Never go on a 5 mile walk right before your OB appointment.
2) Don't see anyone other than your own doctor at 38 weeks along.

I'll leave out the boring details but basically the gist of it is that I arrived at my appointment with my heart totally still pumping from my walk in the heat only to be told my blood pressure was high (it usually runs on the low side) and that there might be a trace of protein in my urine. The nurse practitioner I had to see today told me she was being super conservative and that my usual doctor is probably going to tell her she went over the top when he finds out but she sent me to have PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension) labs drawn just to be sure I'm not heading that direction. I knew this or something like it would happen seeing someone other than my regular doctor at this gestation. Oh well. It couldn't be prevented.

The NP said I measured 38 cm (right on) and she touched my belly and said she estimated the fetal weight to be 7 pounds right now (how she can tell from a brief touch is beyond me!) As soon as she heard the heart beat, she blurted out "You're having a boy, right?" I laughed and told her that actually we didn't know but that the heart rate had been running on the lower end at my last few appointments (it was 136 at this one) and I knew about the wives tale that low = boy. She proceeded to call the baby "he" and "him" throughout the remainder of the appointment. She checked and I was only dilated to 1 cm but that the head was right there (this I already knew!!) and she said it looks like they'd see me next week. I optimistically asked "At the hospital?" and she responded "No, here in the office." Darn!

So, I closed out the evening with a 2nd walk, this time only 4 miles. And now I don't think I'll ever get up again. :)