NST/ Change in Birthday

Going in to today's appointment I was very curious as to where I stood with my pregnancy. Within the last week, my feet and legs have swollen significantly, which can either be normal- or a sign of preeclampsia (this is one thing that annoys me about pregnancy- "normal" signs and bad signs are pretty much the same thing). My blood pressure was consistent today with what it has been this entire pregnancy, so it wasn't too much to worry about. I did end up gaining 10 pounds in the last week from becoming so swollen (one night last week I woke up and couldn't even bend my fingers they were so swollen). This is just something I am going to have to deal with, though, and as long as my blood pressure doesn't rise, Max and I are in good shape!

Today I also had my first weekly non stress test. Here they monitor the correlation between fetal movement and heart rate as well as contractions. First they establish a baseline fetal heart rate (Max's fell between 145-150 bpm) and then each time he moves his heart rate should increase about 15-20 bpm for at least 10-15 seconds. This shows that he is getting enough oxygen through the placenta. The nurse that monitored everything was so wonderful at explaining everything, but also told me she only shares the good information (because this is a NON stress test, not a stress causing test). She did say that everything looked good with Max, that everything looked exactly like it should. I was having consistent cramps (these look like mini contractions) that appeared on the monitor every few minutes and one contraction (this was in a 20 minute period). I couldn't feel the cramps, but could definitely feel the contraction. These have been coming approximately every 3 hours the past few days (but again this can be normal, I am in my last month).

While I was getting my NST, I was explained my due dates a little better. My initial due date was August 16 (according to my last period), my first ultrasound measured at August 18th, the next few ultrasound measured at August 15th, and the last few have measured at August 12th.
With my history and different factors in my pregnancy, my doctor advised that we move my c section up to the 5th of August. This means that Max's birthday will not be 8-9-10 like I had hoped it would be. I was pretty disappointed at first, but then my doctor said "once you have that baby in your arms, the date isn't even going to matter at that point." And I think this helped me put this all into perspective again. I have complete and utter faith that my doctor has my best interest and Max's best interest in mind when making decisions like this. With my most recent due date, I would have been delivering only 3 days before my due date, and with a history of placental abruption- my chances of having one again are 1 in 8. This is something I do NOT want to risk going through again, and moving up my c section might help prevent that. And while it would be cool to have a birthday of 8-9-10, I would much rather be holding a happy, healthy baby in my arms :) There is still the possibility that this date will change again depending on my ultrasound next Thursday or if I develop preeclampsia. Ultimately I am overjoyed that I will get to meet my son in a month or less!