Ready and Waiting

Yesterday we got to get another sneak peak at our little one before she makes her debut here in a few short weeks!! It was amazing to see how much she's changed since the last time we saw her!! The ultrasound started off by checking to make sure she had assumed "the position" for her entry into the world and sure enough, the first thing we saw was her head!! It's funny because her body used to fit inside the u/s screen, but now the top of her head takes up the entire thing!! So item one, check...she is in the head down position and although it is possible for her to turn in the next few weeks, it is unlikely. Next we went on to measure her belly...checked her heartbeat (140 bpm) and even got to see her breathing!! The u/s tech called it practice breathing, but whatever it's called it was amazing!! I informed the tech that she's been practicing all right...and even catches the hiccups quite frequently during her "practice sessions." I wonder if she'll get those pesky hiccups as frequently outside the womb? Guess we'll find out soon enough!! Then they measured her leg, her arm, etc...and the ultrasound machine puts all the measurements together to give an estimate of how much she currently weighs. And the results are in...currently she appears to be a healthy 6 pounds 12 ounces!! The doctor said this could be about a half pound off either way as ultrasounds were not really made to measure weight, but it's still a nice guess-timate for them to use! It's hard to say how much more she'll gain too...he said up to a half a pound each week...so potentially, she could be pushing 9 pounds!! I'm hoping though that she's somewhere in the middle 7's when she arrives...that sounds like the perfect weight...not too big, but not too tiny either!

He said everything else looked great! Next week they will begin checking to see if I'm dilated or effaced yet. At this point I would guess not, or atleast not much. I've definitely been having what they call braxton hicks, or practice, contractions. Which although slightly uncomfortable aren't too bad, but I don't think these practice ones have much effect on my progress. He also did my strep B culture yesterday and it was um, a little uncomfortable...all I'll say is they stick a swab in a place I was not expecting...yikes! We'll get the results of that next week...and if it's positive (which 1 in 5 are) that just means they'll have to give me some medicine during labor to make sure nothing gets transferred to Autumn during the delivery. In other good news he said there is no reason for me to have to have my wedding rings off...even if they have to do a c-section it is not an issue. He said I can continue to try and ease them off if I have a less "puffy day" but really, it's nothing to worry about and my hands should return to normal again sometime after delivery.

All in all it was a great appointment and I'm excited for next Monday when we find out if we're progressing...stay tuned...June 5th is quickly approaching!!