Wednesday, August 31, 2011

36 Weeks

Today was my 36 week prenatal checkup. All is good! I am 3cm dilated, 50% effaced and the head is very low. This past Saturday I lost some of my mucous plug, so things are moving along and I am hoping all this work my body is doing pre-labor will make for a quick labor/delivery. I have braxton hicks contractions every 30mins-1hour since losing my plug.

I also had an ultrasound today. The baby is measuring nearly 3 weeks bigger than my dates, and he is already estimated to weigh 7 lbs 12 oz. If I stay pregnant 3 more weeks (until induction date) assuming his weight estimate today is close, that would make Baby Brother just about the same birth weight as his Big Brother, somewhere between 9-10 lbs. Yikes.

Emerick was so funny during the ultrasound. He was very concerned about me laying on the table, and what they were doing to my belly. He
blurted out cute things during the scan like "look, a riber!" (river), "look the ocean!" and then when there were two images up on the screen at once he yelled "two baby brothers!". When there were colors on the screen (bloodflow) he yelled out "Blue Baby Brother!" and "Green Baby Brother!" He was very excited...he loves ultrasounds because he gets to "Watch Baby Brother" AND get a lollipop
:-)




Saturday, August 6, 2011

32 week checkup

I had my 32 Prenatal checkup this past Wednesday. Everything is good. The Dr. checked my cervix per my request because of the amount of pretty intense Braxton Hicks I have been having for many months now. I think I started feeling them before I was even 3 months along! At this point it is hard to walk through them because they are so uncomfortable and my belly gets soo hard. The Dr. said with a second pregnancy that is pretty normal, but checked me anyways. I am 1 1/2 cm dilated already! I go back in two weeks for my next checkup, at 34 weeks.

Even though I am feeling large - I have so far gained 14 lbs less than at this point with Emerick, and I also don't have the crazy swelling in my face and especially my feet, ankles and legs like I did the first time. It makes such a big difference. My "fundal" height measurement was right on this time, and not ahead by 2 weeks as it was last month at 28 weeks. I will have an ultrasound at 36 weeks to check the baby's position and size, and also to estimate the weight. I am predicting that this baby will be smaller than Emerick was, just based on the fact that I feel like my belly is quite a bit smaller than it was with Emerick around this stage of pregnancy. I am guessing somewhere around 8 1/2 lbs at birth. But, who knows! Here is a cell phone pic taken at 32 weeks!