Pregnancy Update

Pin-Chieh Chiang -- Here is an update from my last entry: I’m not preeclamptic. But, my doctor’s warning was a good reality check for me. I’ve moved up my bedtime to 10:30 and I’m taking naps as soon as I get home from school.

I also have to rave about OMT (osteopathic manipulative treatment) again. One of my OMT professors treated my 2+ edema and now both legs are barely at 1 and have stayed that way since. Another OMT professor treated my ribs and it’s been so nice to be able to walk, laugh, and sleep without feeling pain.

Some of my professors are a bit skeptical that I’ll make it through block exams before going into labor. Exams start this Friday and go until next Friday, and my due date falls right in the middle. Over this past weekend, my baby has dropped into my pelvis, so the timing is starting to look a bit sketchy to me, too. And now reality has finally hit me - forget about exams, I’m going to have a baby soon!

My plan is that if I make it to the end of exams, I’m going to have classmates use OMT on me to try to induce labor (CV4 is a cranial technique that might or might not be able to do the trick). I wish I could find faculty for this, but they are all leaving for a conference during exams. Never in my life did I ever think I would be wishing for my professors to be nearby. I’m paired with a first-year medical student to let her observe my birth as part of an elective she’s taking. I’m definitely expecting her to use OMT to treat my pelvis before and after the birth.