Ultrasound=good!

Whew. I don't know if I'll ever be able to truly enjoy an ultrasound, but this one went just fine. As you may remember from last week (personally, I could hardly think of anything else), Baby Girl was measuring small. Actually, my abdomen was measuring small, which led them to believe that Baby was small.

There are three good things about ultrasounds.
1.) seeing the baby
2.) getting to lie on your back
3.) bringing your husband along to your appointment

There are myriad bad things about ultrasounds, mainly in the form of birth defects and other problems you can find out about at them. Fortunately, yesterday's ultrasound was only good.

Partially packed hospital bag in tow, just in case, Matt and I met up at the doctor's office and made polite conversation to calm our worries, probably about deer meat or something, until it was time for the appointment.

We love the ultrasound tech--not only does she have a great reputation, but she also saved us the trouble of being the shallow couple who asks for a gender confirmation at an ultrasound to make sure everything's okay with the baby by offering it to us straight up. Seeing as Baby Girl wasn't cooperating as much as she could've been last time, our answer was a resounding yes, please!

First things first, though: I asked to see the face. Unfortunately, Baby's face was a little squished and not really turned the right way, so we couldn't tell whose nose she has, let alone get any good pictures. Her little arm was once again up along her face, just like at the 20-week ultrasound. Her heart was pumping away at the rate of 140 beats per minute, pretty average for a fetus.

We then took measurements of the head, abdomen and femur to make sure she's growing okay. The head measured in at about 34 weeks, 1 day. The femur was about 35 weeks 4 days, and the abdomen, which she couldn't get a great measurement of because of a little leg that was in the way, was about 37 weeks, 1 day. According to my probably-pretty-accurate estimated due date, I'm 37 weeks (full term!!!) today.

What we have on our hands is probably a chubby baby with a smallish head. I think that sounds pretty cute! The doctor wasn't worried at all about the discrepancy--just as people come in all shapes and sizes, so do fetuses.

And Baby Girl is still a girl! You may remember from my very first post that the tech wasn't absolutely sure (yet she was quite confident, and has a 100% accuracy rate). Apparently, this happens quite a bit--she told us that just yesterday she'd had 4 couples with a similar situation, and all with baby girls. Nevertheless, I was quite relieved that she got a great view this time, and Baby Girl's nursery (which is almost complete--I will post more pictures when it is) won't need to be redone last-minute. I was also relieved that we hadn't been calling a boy Baby Girl this whole time--how humiliating it would be for him! I like a good surprise, but I would've felt terrible for the poor baby.

Ultrasound over, we headed back upstairs to the lobby to wait for my regular doctor's appointment.

I didn't gain a single pound last week! It's evil of me to be proud of that, and Matt insisted I should be eating more. Do I take advantage of this to get all the ice cream out of him I possibly can before delivery? I have a feeling that's a decision I'd regret. I've gained plenty this pregnancy and it's normal to slow down toward the end. I tried to calculate how many pounds I averaged each week for the past four weeks, but the calculation involved fractions and is too complex for my pregnant brain.

My belly measured at almost 34 weeks this week, up another two weeks. I think Baby Girl is growing!

We learned from the ultrasound that Baby is probably in the 38th to 39th percentile for size, and her estimated weight is 6 pounds 6 ounces. What?!? That's like a real newborn! That's bigger than several babies I've known when they were born! What a porker! And she might not be born for a month yet! As the doctor said, I'm apparently all baby. That's good to hear, except for the fact that I've actually gained a significant (though extremely average) amount of weight this pregnancy. Where has it all gone? It's a mystery. Hopefully it'll mysteriously disappear after delivery as well. The weight estimate, by the way, can be off by 1 or 2 pounds, which even my math-challenged mind knows is pretty significant.

Since I'm now full term, birth could happen any day! Or, it could be a month. Stay tuned to find out.