7.1lbs and counting...

A lot going on in baby world at the moment. So much so that it’s kinda hard for me to get my head around.

We were up at the hospital for the growth scan yesterday and while we were there I mentioned that the baby hadn’t been moving around nearly as much as she had been. (Luckily we had the nice midwife, whose name I still haven’t worked out… it might be Ann. She doesn’t wear her name badge like all the others and since I’ve seen her 3 times now it seems like it would be rude to ask.) So, midwife whose name might be Ann, sent us directly from the scan over to Day Care to be monitored for half an hour.

I was hooked up to a machine for 30 minutes. (Have to say, the strap around my belly made my brand new stretch marks itch and it was very hard not to touch it to scratch around! But that was the worst part of the whole thing.) Baby's heartbeat was excellent. Everyone who walked by kept saying what an excellent trace it was. I was a bit worried as they give you a little button to push when you feel any movement at all… it's more stressful than a hearing test where they tell you to push a button when you hear a beep. You're sitting there thinking... "what was that? was that movement? ahhh! I don't know!" To complicate matters, one of the midwives decided to take my blood pressure with an automated cuff while I was attached to the machine. I had wires coming out of me from everywhere, trying to concentrate on movement and not have my heart rate spike??

They showed me the trace at the end and baby's heartbeat went up right before I hit the button every time. So it WAS movement (yaay I passed the test!) despite it being very gentle movement. (Apparently a tiny raise in heartbeat with movement is exactly what they want to see. Good baby- she passed the test too.) They've told me that it's probably an increase in my fluid that's making baby's movements less forceful. That and her position since she's head down now. However, that said, she’s back to her more active self today! So perhaps she just felt like napping for a day or two.

The growth scan is where things get a bit confusing. Head circumference is just the tiniest smidge below the average line. Femur length is bang on average and belly size is measuring on the top line which puts it in the 95th percentile. The belly size is what has them… I don’t know what the phrase should be, concerned? Interested? They kept telling me it was nothing to worry about, but they’ve gone on to schedule three more scans! Three more scans tells me to worry. They’re going to recheck the measurements because it might have had something to do with her position and keep an eye on the fluid level. (Maybe she’s just doomed to have a fat belly like her mommy! Her measurements are approximating her current weight at around 7.1lbs, so no small baby here, but we already knew that wasn't going to happen!)

When I got the call this morning telling me what time my new appointments were, I was also told that I’ve been booked in for a Glucose Tolerance Test to make sure I don’t have Gestational Diabetes. (Yeah. Don’t worry they say. Sure. I’m not worrying. Really. Specially when I specifically mentioned that I thought I needed this test weeks ago to old-annoying-curly- haired midwife, I can’t remember her name either.) So, I’m going to be in the hospital for at least 3 hours on Monday morning while they run this super fun – don’t eat from 11pm Sunday night till noon on Monday – test. What’s got me scared the most, other than the lack of food for that long, is the complete absence of heartburn medication allowed during that time. I might die!

Our very first antenatal class is tomorrow! Stay tuned for what’s sure to be a
thrilling account of a super informative class. (*laughs* try not to spew your drink over the keyboard. Keyboards are expensive.)