Appointment Update

We had another appointment yesterday (10/23/08). We got an ultrasound done - the ultrasound tech wanted to check the baby's lips and/or nose to check for evidence of a cleft palate, and she wanted to check on the baby's spine and head. Thankfully everything checked out fine. And also thankfully, it seems that GB has inherited her mother's head size and not her father's. Woo hoo!

Her heartbeat was a strong and healthy 152 bpm. And she’s already positioned with her head down, so that’s good. She still has room move around and switch positions, but she’ll soon get too big to do that. Hopefully she’ll stay where she is. And she’s face-up, or “sunny-side up”, which helps me to better identify which body parts are poking me at any particular time.

According to her measurements, she weighs 3lbs, 14oz. But our birthing class teacher said that weight estimates from an ultrasound can be off by as much as 4 lbs. So she can either weigh as little as
-2oz or as much as 7lbs, 14 oz. And she’s supposed to gain about ½ lb every week from now on.

I got to experience first-hand why pregnant women shouldn't lie on their backs during the 3rd trimester. During the ultrasound, something hit me like a ton of bricks – it was like a light switch turned on. I started sweating, got light-headed, and felt incredibly nauseous. It was one of the weirdest, most unpleasant feelings I’ve had in a long time. The ultrasound tech noticed that I was fidgeting around and breathing faster, so she quickly had me roll over to my side. And just like that, the light switched turned off. I was lying on my back so long that the weight of my belly was keeping oxygen from getting to all of my oxygen-requiring parts – and I’m sure GB wasn’t happy with it either.

Lee’s mom got to come to the ultrasound, so that was really special. GB just keeps looking cuter and cuter. And we got another confirmation that GB is indeed a “she”. So her closet full of pink and flowery clothes isn’t for naught.

Our midwife said that she'd call the lab where I was typed as having A- blood and explain to them that something isn't quite right over there. Mistyping a pregnant woman's blood is too significant to ignore. I'm just very thankful that I had dontated blood before and remembered that the Blood Center had told me what my type was. I hate to think what could have happened if I hadn't.

We’re meeting with a potential pediatrician next month and we’re meeting with a potential doula next week. She’s one birth away from receiving her doula certification and said she’d be our doula for free since we're helping her get certified. We want to meet with her ahead of time to see if our personalities mesh well. Because let’s be honest: Lee and I are a tad (ahem) wacky. And if someone is going to be in the delivery room with us, he/she needs to be accepting of our ever-present (but nonetheless endearing) wack.

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Weight gain: 23.6 lbs