Matters gynecological and obstetrical

Everything progressing well in Baby Land. Yesterday's checkup revealed a very much heads down baby and a very slightly dilated cervix, at 1/2 cm, with a bit of thinning, so I am right on track for a normal labor progression and a relatively on-time baby. My tummy is 35 cm so I am right on track in terms of size, despite those very polite and kind comments of, "You look like you're ready to go," or "I never got that big." (Well, maybe if you had a puny underweight baby or suffered a bout of amnesia.) My doctor reconfirmed that I was planning on delivering au naturel and when I told her I'd only want an epidural if that was the difference between vaginal delivery and a C-section she said, "Well, we're really not planning on a C-section here." It's reassuring to know I don't have a surgery happy doctor.

My iron is still a bit low, despite a few runs to Ken's in the past month or so. I guess an occasional kosher burger isn't enough to kick anemia completely and I need to be a bit more diligent about those damned iron pills, since apparently the prenatal vitamins and a balanced-diet just aren't enough. The nurse reminded me that one looses a lot of blood in labor -- probably not too smart if I have an easy labor and then harm myself afterwards with a low iron count.