We’re at T-8, and we have settled on a pediatrician. Last week, we interviewed a highly recommended doctor, and looks like we’ll stick with her. She’s Dr. Debby Pollack of the Dekalb Pediatric Center. Unlike when I was a kid going to Dr. ‘Buddy’ Portman, they now have separate sick and well waiting rooms. Makes sense, no? I like their practice most of all due to the panda bear theme. It’s close (Decatur), convenient (no highways), and they are on call 24/7. More updates tomorrow.

Today was a good pregnancy day. Amy had a doctor’s visit (Dr. Fisch) this time), and baby and mom received clean bills of health. This was Amy’s first visit with Dr. Fish, and she spent quite a long time. We now have a ‘kick-sheet’ to keep track of the baby’s activity – ten movements in ten hours or we call the doctor. So far, that doesn’t look like it’s going to be a problem – Amy gets punched and kicked every few minutes or so it seems. It would have been cool to have the baby today – the new baby Trotz could have shared my brother Seth’s birthday, the first day of Spring!

This is it. Ten days till Baby Trotz is due. From here on out, I plan to try to blog daily as we enter the final stretch. And stretching we are – Amy feels like it’s a whole new ball game recently – the baby’s new head-down position has made the last few weeks a whole lot more interesting. We bought a large inflatable birth ball to help ease the stress on her pelvis. Amy loves it. As for other preparations, we picked up the glider from The Baby’s Room on Saturday, and it looks great in the room. We also had to visit our new neighborhood Target on Moreland Ave (Yay! No more trips to Buckhead for Target!) and picked up a CD/ClockRadio/Nature Sound Machine for the room. And I’ve finally found a good use for that old Lava Lamp – it’ll make a groovy night-light. We also picked up one part of the artwork we were having framed for the room on Saturday. As you faithful readers know, we’re going with the animal theme for the room. Amy saw a nice idea where three book illustrations were matted together into a bigger piece, but we’ve done something similar, except with photos of mine from the Atlanta Zoo. We’ll have three of these in the room, and the first set featuring a lioness yawning, a zebra looking over his shoulder, and a giraffe stretching his neck looks great! We used a spiffy brown glossy burlwood frame and safari-esque pale green rice paper for the matte. Come on by and see it sometime!

The ECV this morning was successful! After a dose of terbutaline (which relaxes the womb), Amy took a deep breath and the doctor proceeded to knead her belly, gradually pushing first the head, then the feet, into a head-down position. It took two attempts, but the baby finally turned. Amy showed incredible strength during what looked pretty darn uncomfortable. We then stayed in the labor and delivery room to monitor the baby. The expected outcome is a fairly active baby after the procedure, but Baby Trotz stayed very quiet for quite a while. An IV sugar drip was one attempt at kick-starting activity, and then, a small drip of petosin, to see how the baby would tolerate actual labor. If they saw anything negative at that point in the baby’s heartbeat, they would have induced right then and there! While we were mentally ready for a Cesearean, we had no concept we might have a vaginal birth today. Obviously, things turned out fine, and the doc was happy with Baby Trotz’s reactions to mild contractions, so they fed us some yummy hospital food and sent us on our way. Stay tuned!