Two Years and Counting

**Below is what I posted today on our family blog. The only other thing I’ll add right now is that we were extremely frustrated with the appt with the maternal fetal specialist yesterday. Our copay for specialists is $50, and basicallyw e paid him $50 to tell us what we already knew ourselves. He just repeated himself about 4 times, saying the same thing over and over, and when he left, M and I both looked at each other with “what the heck was that?” faces. The ultrasound that the nurse did was helpful and reassuring since everything looked good and there was nothing that made them stop and say, “Oh, here’s the problem.” But the actual doctor seemed completely unnecessary, and the weekly non-stress tests are going to be a pain. I called this morning to ask the reasoning for the tests. I was wondering why they need to do the test to keep an eye on her, since there’s nothing they can do at this point to actually fix the fact that she’s a bit small, and I thought the test was unnecessary. But the nurse made me understand. The test will show her heart rate and whether or not the baby is in distress. If they see that there’s a problem, they can make the call to deliver her early if necessary. We definitely don’t want to miss any kind of distress…it just stinks that we’ll be paying $87 for each test. The medical bills seem unending these days!!**

So, here the actual post…

35 weeks and counting! “Small” seems to be the word these days in regards to Kate, which is ok by me. Last week at my appointment, they saw on the ultrasound that some of her measurements were lagging about a week behind, so they sent me to a maternal fetal doctor to make sure there weren’t any big problems we didn’t know about. Matt and I had that appointment yesterday. Basically, he didn’t say anything we couldn’t have said ourselves, which was pretty much, “Some babies are just meant to be small, and others should be bigger, but we won’t know for sure why your baby is small until she is born.” Big surprise there! He said 70% of small babies are meant to be that way (for example, because she has a small mom!), and in the other 30%, there’s a reason they’re small, but they can’t know that except in hindsight.

The nurse who did the ultrasound said Kate’s heart looked “beautiful,” her brain was functioning well, the cord was doing whatever it’s supposed to be doing, her organs look good, and all but one of her measurements were in a low percentile of growth, but within normal ranges. Her abdomen was lagging a bit behind, but she said their measurements are just an estimate and because everything else looked good, it should be fine. Her weight right now is 5 lbs, 6 oz, which means she gained 11 oz in one week. (The previous gain was 1 lb in 3 weeks, so she’s gaining weight more rapidly now.) They also said her estimated weight at delivery, IF I carry her to 39 weeks, is 6 lbs 14 oz. Again, that’s just an estimate, but makes me feel good that her weight is on track. The doctor did ask me to get weekly non-stress tests from here on out, so they can keep an eye on that one lagging measurement. They just hook me up to a monitor so they can track the baby’s heartbeat. I’ve already done it several times, so it’s not a big deal except that it’s expensive and our insurance doesn’t cover the whole amount. Bummer.

We’re thinking I may not carry her to 40 weeks because also at the appointment last week, the doctor discovered that I was dilated 1 cm, 50% effaced, and that Kate had already dropped down into my pelvis–which I could definitely tell. I think she’s even dropped lower since then! I have another appointment tomorrow, so I guess I’ll find out then. Part of me hopes I’m dilated even more, which would mean she’s coming soon, but I also hope she stays in long enough to get above 6 lbs. I don’t want her to come before she’s developed enough to be ok breathing on her own. I’m hoping to make it to 37 weeks. Especially now that I’ve taken on a freelance writing job that I really want to do well on! I’d like at least a week to finish that.

I’m feeling ok these days, just pretty uncomfortable. Because Kate is sitting so low in my pelvis, when she kicks (which is a LOT!) sometimes I feel these super sharp pains shooting down the back of my pelvis and the back of my legs. It’s such a strange and really painful feeling. They’re quick though, don’t last too long. Needless to say, I’m spending a lot of my time these days lying down–at least that way, gravity isn’t making her sit even heavier on my hips!

Baby showers are over, nursery is pretty much ready, car seat is installed. Except for a few small things, we’re ready. And if those small things don’t get accomplished before she gets here, it won’t be the end of the world. Matt and I are enjoying these last weeks of lying on the couch (or the bed, as that’s where I’m most comfortable) watching tv together and just enjoying each other. Not that we won’t be able to do that at all when she gets here, but it’ll definitely be different. Sometimes I worry about that–most of our friends talk about how hard it is to find time to spend together, but I can’t help but think it won’t be that way with us. I know I’m probably being naive, but it seems like with just one child, your hands aren’t as full as with two, and there will still be time for each other. This is such a joint effort, and I feel like this pregnancy has pulled us even closer, so I’m hoping that when Kate actually gets here, it’ll make us even closer and stronger.