Monday, July 15, 2013

Keeping Us on Our Toes {in Utero}

Throughout this pregnancy there have been many times where I sorta forgot the fact that I was expecting. Not because I don't cherish this baby's existence or look forward to meeting her. The simple fact is that life with an active (almost) four year old and eighteen month old can do that to you. However baby girl has been good at making her presence known.

After my 20 week ultrasound they told me that there is a marginal insertion of the umbilical cord. Basically this means that the cord is insterted off to the side of the placenta instead of towards the center which is ideal. Not a huge risk, but it can cause low birth weight in babies and they wanted to do regular ultrasounds for the remainder of my pregnancy. More opportunities to sneak at peek at my precious babe? Sign me up!

Each one has brought good results. She is small, but so were Emma and Easton. She weighed 7 lbs 1 oz and he was a whopping 7 lbs 9 oz. We just make small babies in general which is out of the norm in our Dutch community. After my ultrasound this week, I was having trouble getting in touch with my doc for the results though. The kids and I were planning a trip to my mom's for the following week, but the doctor wanted to go over the ultrasound before I left since I am so close to my due date and will be missing an appointment while I'm away.

Friday afternoon I finally spoke with a nurse who said the doctor on call would look them over and get back to me before the night was over. Just as we're heading out the door the phone rings. Doctor says the baby looks good, but my fluid is low and they want to do a non-stress test. Typically they worry when you reach a 5 and I was at a 6. Talk about stressing a momma out! I had a hard time focusing on much of anything for the rest of the night, worrying about what the results might show.

Saturday afternoon they hooked me up to a monitor to observe babe. They need to see at least 2 accelerations in her heartbeat within 30 minutes. If there were further concerns, they'd do another ultrasound to check on fluid levels again. Baby girl passed the test with flying colors and I was free to go home. Basically I need to take it easy and drink lots of fluids. Between my crazy to-do lists and the insane heat and humidity we've been experiencing I haven't been doing myself any favors. So thankful that everything is okay and babe has 18 more days to keep baking before we meet her!


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