She's gonna be a biggun!

First of all, I want to thank everyone for your thoughts and opinions on the whole pediatrician thing. We don't have it 100% figured out, but we are working on it. I also wanted to comment on the title of that particular post - "Pediatrician Nightmare." That sounds so dramatic and over the top, and I attribute it all to the fact that it was about 4 in the morning and I had been awake since about 1 am when I wrote it. I think the lack of sleep makes everything seem much more dramatic and over the top. I wish I had labeled it something more subdued like "Pediatrician Agony" or maybe anguish or catastrophe... something like that.

Now for the good stuff, Friday afternoon, MTB and I went for an ultrasound with the perinatologist, and our baby girl is doing great! He estimated her weight at 6 pounds, 11 ounces - HOLY COW!! Of course, the margin of error at this point is +/- 13 ounces, so she could be even bigger! Or smaller. According to doctor, she is in the 50th percentile in terms of weight, so she is definitely average, but still.... 6 pounds, 11 ounces! MTB and I got there a little early so we went up to the nursery before the appointment, and there was a brand new baby girl who weighed 6 pounds, 8 ounces. I told MTB we probably have a little girl that size in my tummy right now, and I was right.

The ultrasound went well, and the perinatologist said

• we have a "good lookin' baby;"
• she is still a girl;
• she is head down;
• there was no doubt about her movement since she kept kicking the wand;
• he wants to see me for a weekly ultrasound until she's born to monitor fluid (He didn't say anything else about that, and I was so focused on 6 pounds, 11 ounces, that it didn't occur to me to ask.);
• I should not be allowed to go to 40 weeks because of my high blood pressure;
• if she is not here on her own, I should be induced by the 39th week. (After 39 weeks, the risk goes up and the benefit goes down);
• he would not be concerned if she were to decide to make her appearance anytime now.

I'll talk to my regular OB about all this next week.

They also monitored the baby before the ultrasound. They have never done that before, and it was comforting to hear her heart beating so strongly. They wouldn't let MTB go back with me for the monitoring, so I was alone in the room with the boom, boom, boom of her heartbeat. As I lay there with the monitor strapped to my tummy, I felt very relaxed. I thought back to the time when we first saw the tiniest flicker of her heart at 6 weeks and the joy MTB and I shared at that moment. I thought back to when we heard her heartbeat for the first time when she was just 10 weeks, and MTB said it sounded like a train. We have been lucky enough to witness her heartbeat from its earliest beginnings, and for that, I am so thankful. I cannot wait to meet this amazing little miracle.