36 weeks pregnancy update

I am now 36 weeks and 1 day pregnant, meaning less than 4 weeks till full term (40 weeks) and 6 days until I am classed as term, meaning that if the baby is born at 37 weeks there should be no complications. 

I am still feeling quite tired and really heavy around my middle. I have to go for a wee several times a day which is annoying and I have some lower back pain. I have gained a couple of lbs meaning my weight gain is now 12lbs, I am still confident that I will be at pre pregnancy weight once baby is born. 

I had another growth scan, obstetrician appointment and diabetic appointment on Wednesday. The scan went fine, the baby is now back following the same line it has been, it is still larger than average measuring on the 75th centile line (anything between the 10th and 90th are considered normal). Measurements were:

• Femur length 71mm which is 3mm larger than 2 weeks ago
• Head circumference is 331.5mm which is 28.5mm larger than 2 weeks ago
• Abdominal circumference is 325.5mm which is 3.5mm larger than 2 weeks ago

The baby is predicted to weigh 2983g which is 6lb 9oz, so in terms of weight the baby is around 6oz bigger than it should be at this stage, so measuring around a week bigger. I was surprised at how little weight the baby had gained in the last two weeks and am glad that the baby hasn't gained more chunk on it's tummy. However, the measurements can be 25% out either way. 

After the scan I spoke with a obstetrician and was glad it was the same woman I saw last time as I find she listens and will answer all my questions. The baby is still transverse meaning I have two choices at this stage, I could opt for an elective cesarean section or I could have an External Cephalic Version (ECV) where they try and manually turn the baby head down. With an ECV it only has a 50% chance of working and of those that they do turn 6% turn back. Basically they will inject me with a drug to relax my uterus muscles and then grab the baby to turn. I am still researching the pros and cons to this, however, if I opt for this and it works it means I will be able to have a normal delivery. I have to go back next week to either book in for the ECV or the cesarean section. My urine was clear and blood pressure was 131/84.

I also spoke with the diabetic doctor, it was someone who I had never met before but she was lovely, very English, very middle class and eccentric (think a female Boris Johnson!) she also had a student in with her. She was really pleased with my glucose levels and this was the first appointment that I didn't have to up any medication, she did say I may find my levels are getting lower so I need to be aware of having a hypo (low blood sugar) and to contact them if this happens. She also took my blood pressure even though it had already been done 10 minutes before, she got my blood pressure as 128/72! She used the old fashioned way of taking blood pressure, whereas the obstetrician used an electric machine. I much prefer the old fashioned as it hurts less.