38 Week Check Up - And a Pooka Update

First off, I am completely and utterly ecstatic to report that Pooka has been feeling MUCH better. There were two or three days where he did nothing but eat, drink, sleep and defecate. He ran a fever intermittently, and displayed so little of his normal joie de vivre that I experienced miserable crushing despair.

I was so worried about his fever, which kept coming back at night although not with the severity of the first instance, that I insisted he sleep in the kitchen, (the coolest room in the house by a fair 6 degrees). Sandy slept on an air mattress next to him.

BUT! Then, ever so slowly, he began to display tiny flashes of his personality. The first few days he wouldn't even pick up his head when his papa got home from work, but one afternoon I came downstairs as Sandy walked in, and Pooka went and got a toy to show him!

He lay back down again almost immediately and went back to sleep, but it was the first sign we had that his personality was returning. After that, there were new and encouraging developments almost daily. The first time he chased the Handsome Cat for bothering Maya - the first time he lifted his leg to pee on a bush, the first time he did his wild stallion scraping of the ground after peeing on something, the first time he barked at the garbage truck, the first time he rolled over and begged for tummy rubs, the first time he asked to go for a walk...etc etc. And, because I am a pregnant, hormonal mess - I wept like a little girl at every single one of these examples of his returning health. The first day that his temperature stayed below 102.5 all day long, I was SO happy.

Anyway, long story short, he appears to be feeling a very great deal better. The vet came and drew his blood for a retest of his white blood cell count, which came back within normal values, (during his episode it was 20,000 - when they rechecked it it was 11,000 - normal range is between 6,000 and 17,000 or so.)

He has a bit of the Dire Rear, which is to be expected since he's on a pretty hefty dose of antibiotics. We're feeding him rice and canned pumpkin to try and provide him with plenty of fiber to firm things up, and he gets some yogurt an hour or so after he gets his meds, to help repopulate his gut with beneficial tummy flora.

Anyway. Now onto the results of my 38 week OB visit.

NOTHING HAS CHANGED. I'm still 90% effaced, zero station (Baby Engaged!), and very little dilation. Rhys is going to be one of those kids that goes away to college but NEVER MOVES OUT. Urg. My amniotic fluid is maintaining itself nicely though, and Dr. G says Rhys looks very comfortable. Perhaps...too comfortable. I'm taking away his xbox. Maybe that will get him moving.

I had high hopes for last night since it was the full moon, AND an eclipse, but Rhys evidently has no flair for the dramatic. Disappointing.