Like I've said before the first thing I do when I get there is give the nurse a urine sample. I've always gotten a great reviews on my pee from the nurse but this time another nurse did the testing and asked if I've been having bladder infection symptoms. I asked if that means trouble or painful urinating, she said yes, and I told her I haven't. Another nurse (who normally does this testing for me) turned around in her seat and said "It seems like we get it in waves, we won't have any one come in with any problems and then we will have a day when all our patients have a high white blood cell count." Whatever was causing it to be high, they must not have been too concerned because they didn't offer me any additional testing or even any information about what to pay attention to or how to fix it. She then took my blood pressure which has gone up slightly since the last times but has always been on the low side so it is starting to creep up into the normal range, and then got me on the scale. This was something I had been slightly nervous about, because the last few months I have only put on about 2-3 lbs a month and to date have only gained 14.5 lbs the entire pregnancy. I try not to do a whole lot of comparing to other pregnant moms but they are all nearing the end of their pregnancies in the 30lb gain range. So I wanted to make sure I was still in a range that is normal and not too little. I was assured that it was fine. But after the doctor came in to my room and took my fundal height measurement she seemed more concerned. She told me that I was measuring a bit small (I think she said 26 cm) and that she wanted to order an ultrasound to make sure the baby hadn't stopped growing. I didn't think much of it at the time because in my head I knew she is still very active and that if she wasn't getting the right amount of nutrients or if something was wrong she would not be moving as much. Plus the doctor mentioned that she could just be sitting really low, meaning she wouldn't be getting an accurate measurement because she isn't starting at the right place.We went to the reception desk to set up the ultrasound and they told us to be there the next day. At this point we were already out the door and both Chad and I were a little concerned that they wanted to get us in so soon. For our last ultrasound they made us wait a week and wanted to have us wait even longer. So what do people do when they are afraid of the unknown? They let their imaginations run wild and tend to think the worst. Which is exactly what we did.
I had thoughts all day of a placental abruption, low amniotic fluid, or a defect and put a call into my mommy-nurse who basically said exactly what I thought she would say, "Don't worry until you get the ultrasound." But was at least able to explain more than what we got at the doctors office. I also did a ton of reading on what a small measurement could mean and was almost convinced (or hopeful) that she was just going to be a smaller baby, even though given Chad's size I didn't really think that was possible.
So the ultrasound tech starts going through all her measurements and I can see in the bottom of the screen where it shows the size and what that equates to for an average gestational age and everything was saying 28 weeks, 29 weeks, 30 weeks and even some 31 weeks. At the end of the ultrasound the tech told us her measurements averaged about the same as a 29 week 5 day old fetus and that she seems to be weighing in at about 3 lbs 4oz. That is NOT a small baby. Her actual gestational age (based off of the date of conception) is 28 weeks 6 days, and from averages that I've been reading about she should be between 2.5-2.75 lbs. The ultrasound technician said I may have measured small due to my stomach muscles "holding it in well".
Chad and I both breathed a sigh of relief, and a few days later the nurse called to confirm that everthing looked great and the small measurement was likely due to my anatomy and that I just might not get that big. Now my worry about her being too small has turned into "if she is that big now, how big is she going to be at delivery?". YIKES!!!
Here are the newest baby photos. I can't believe she is already so big that they can only fit her top half in the picture, it was only a few weeks ago her whole body fit in the frame!
Face
Close Up
In other news, Chad and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary last weekend, with a trip to Chads parents' cabin in Coeur d'Alene (which is where our cake has been freezing for a year). We spent a lot of time catching up with Chads family, went to the Wine Cellar in downtown Coeur d'Alene for an amazing dinner (seriously their spinich artichoke dip was to die for), ate our wedding cake, and went into Spokane to go to Babies R' Us to pick out a crib. Chad ended up getting really excited over the latest swing model that not only swings back and forth at different speeds but plays music, both programmed music and you can plug in your mp3, and it vibrates at different speeds. I think he was hoping he would be able to play in it but it only holds up to 25 lbs darnit. We finished off the weekend watching our wedding video and reliving some of our favorite wedding memories. Seriously still can't get over how good Chris' speech was! *Sigh* Time really does fly.
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