Doctor's Visit: Follow-Up on all the Scariness

Well, we had the ultrasound today to see why I had a huge jump in fundal height, and, like most of you assured me, everything is fine. She is growing proportionately, I don't have too much amniotic fluid, and the placenta and umbilical cord are both fine.


However ... I have a massively large super-baby growing inside me.  I am a few days away from 35 weeks, and she is measuring well past 37 weeks.  In fact (give me a moment here) ... she is already almost SEVEN POUNDS.  It looks like Jeremy's Hercules genes are hard at work in there.  


So, obviously, I am hoping she will make her entrance into the world a little earlier than August 28th.  The question is, which trait will win out: Will she be early like her mom or stubborn liker her mom?  


We also got to see some great images at the ultrasound, so it was really great.  We saw her little face and her little profile.  We saw her wave her hands and open her mouth.  AND the ultrasound tech said it was unusual, but she has SO much hair that it was even visible on the ultrasound.  CRAZY!  She even took a picture for us.  All the little squiggly white lines around the outside of her skull are hairs:

Here is her little face straight on:

Of course it might not look like it to you, but to me it looks like a little doll and not like the little alien we saw in her 20 week ultrasound.  It was really great to see her, and it was awesome to see Jeremy recognize things on the ultrasound.  He recognized her face and feet and hands before the tech even pointed them out to us.  He is practically a professional!


So, all is well ... except now I will just have to mentally prepare for the possibility that I will pushing out a 12-pound baby.  Pray for me.

34 Weeks

Yesterday was 34 weeks, but I was busy on a shopping trip in Grand Rapids with some of my favorite ladies ever: my mom, my little sister Victoria, my Aunt Julie, and my cousins Kristina and Kayla.  I was WIPED when I got home, so I laid on the couch for an hour and just went to bed early.  We had tons of fun, and many strangers asked me if my due date was days away.  It never gets old ...

At 34 weeks, our little lady could be weighing in at five pounds now and could be as tall as 20 inches.  The vernix (the white coating protecting your baby’s skin) is getting thicker, and her central nervous system and lungs continue to mature. 


I also just read that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine.  They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.  VERY exciting news, since I am really nervous about preterm labor with all we have been going through with this little one lately.


No belly picture this week, because I forgot yesterday until I was exhausted and my make-up had worn off, and today I am not feeling top-notch, so I am in PJs with no make-up.  Don't worry, my belly is still huge and getting more massive by the day.  I'll get back on track next week.


As for this past week, I have been feeling about the same -- tired, hot, the usual.  Not a big deal. The only difference this week was that it felt VERY LONG with the weight of the upcoming ultrasound.  We only have three more days to wait after today, so we are getting there!


I will have an update after the ultrasound and regular appointment on Thursday.  Crossing my fingers!