You can't really tell because of all the beautiful green in the background, but I'm now holding up a very tall tomato plant. We need to invest in some supports as the growing tomatoes themselves have made the plant a bit top-heavy. So, back to the baby and the bump. To catch anyone up who hasn't read any of the below posts, I ended up with three appointments this week.
On Tuesday evening, we had an ultrasound during which we learned baby was 6 lbs. 1 oz., the size of a 36 week baby, I have a mature placenta, and there is a lot of fluid (amniotic - not what I ingested to get the ultrasound, or pooling around my ankles).
On Wednesday evening, we had an appointment with the doctor where I learned what all this means. The baby's growth has slowed (in a good way - she was 3 weeks ahead, now she's 2), the mature placenta thing means very little to the doctors, and the fluid is a bit more problematic than I first thought. From my last check until this week, the fluid level increased from 21 units (still forgot to ask what the units are) to 30. The normal range (I learned from my own independent reading) is 5-25 units, so the fluid level is high and outside the normal range. Also, the amount of fluid building up makes my uterus the size of a 40 week uterus and my body may not know how to process that input. So, my body may kick-start labor a bit early and when it does, since there's a lot of fluid, I may need a paddle to get around (a bit of an exaggeration, I realize). The tests that we need to get should give some insight into why this is happening. Non-Stress Tests will be performed twice a week to monitor baby's movement, heart rate, and well-being. A Level II Ultrasound will check if there are any blockages in baby's GI system preventing her from filtering the fluid as it should be. It could also tell us that there is no reason and that baby is fine and dandy (fingers crossed for the fine and dandy outcome). Also, the doctors won't let me go past my due date should we make it to the magical 19th of July. And, since posting that earlier, someone STILL voted that we would go late. I'm telling you - that's just no longer possible!
On Tuesday evening, we had an ultrasound during which we learned baby was 6 lbs. 1 oz., the size of a 36 week baby, I have a mature placenta, and there is a lot of fluid (amniotic - not what I ingested to get the ultrasound, or pooling around my ankles).
On Wednesday evening, we had an appointment with the doctor where I learned what all this means. The baby's growth has slowed (in a good way - she was 3 weeks ahead, now she's 2), the mature placenta thing means very little to the doctors, and the fluid is a bit more problematic than I first thought. From my last check until this week, the fluid level increased from 21 units (still forgot to ask what the units are) to 30. The normal range (I learned from my own independent reading) is 5-25 units, so the fluid level is high and outside the normal range. Also, the amount of fluid building up makes my uterus the size of a 40 week uterus and my body may not know how to process that input. So, my body may kick-start labor a bit early and when it does, since there's a lot of fluid, I may need a paddle to get around (a bit of an exaggeration, I realize). The tests that we need to get should give some insight into why this is happening. Non-Stress Tests will be performed twice a week to monitor baby's movement, heart rate, and well-being. A Level II Ultrasound will check if there are any blockages in baby's GI system preventing her from filtering the fluid as it should be. It could also tell us that there is no reason and that baby is fine and dandy (fingers crossed for the fine and dandy outcome). Also, the doctors won't let me go past my due date should we make it to the magical 19th of July. And, since posting that earlier, someone STILL voted that we would go late. I'm telling you - that's just no longer possible!
And, on to Friday. I went to the doctor's office for a non-stress test, which I think I'll become quite a pro at in no time. At that time, I checked with the doctor about baby's well being should she make her big debut sooner rather than later and the doc seemed confident that most likely all would be well and well developed. She's a calming presence in the way that she blows off your concerns (really). It was an especially good attitude for my mom to see how un-concerned this doctor was - and we'll be seeing her at least once a week now.
So, baby is still growing, I'm still feeling good, we're all sorts of prepared in the sense of having "stuff" set up around here and bags packed and what-not. I have towels situated in both cars just in case. Today, I re-arranged the towel to hang over the front of the seat in Jeff's Sportage and he said, "Do you think it's happening today?" To which I replied, "If I knew that, I wouldn't really need the towels at all times." I also decided that the week after school I would do my super market price comparison of items we purchase frequently to see where our best deals are because...stores like that all have linoleum floors - better there than at my house :)
This coming week brings a VERY exciting transition for me - the last day of school...for a good long while (I do love teaching, please don't get me wrong - but this is EXCITING!). Monday and Tuesday we have full days of school, but a majority of those days are spent at our talent show. Wednesday and Thursday are both half days. I have non-stress test appointments on Tuesday and Friday, and I look forward to being especially non-stressed on Friday. Next Saturday is a course through our doctor's office called Breast Feeding Basics and then we have a car seat inspection at the hospital, so we'll have both bases installed into our cars by then (and hopefully installed correctly too). Have a wonderful week 35!
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