34 weeks

I am a week behind on my 34 week post, so I will attempt to catch up! I saw the doctor again last Tuesday. He said I was measuring a little small (first time for everything, right?), and since I had asked if I would have anymore ultrasounds to look at the baby, he said it was a good time to go on and do that. He just wanted to make sure the baby was still growing on track! I'd done a couple of ultrasounds over the last couple of months, but they had looked only at my cervix to make sure the small amount of bleeding I was having on a couple of occasions wasn't my cervix trying to open too early. Each time they checked, it was nothing, so I've pretty much stopped worrying about it.

From the ultrasound last Tuesday, I learned that the baby was measuring around 5lb. and 11 oz. I think I am going to have a big baby! That was my birth weight, but I was also born about 7 weeks early. The tech said she was still measuring about a week ahead. They said that she has hair. You could see the little lines sticking out from her head on the screen. I wonder if she's going to look like a little Mexican baby with a lot of hair! They also told me that my fluid level was on the low end of normal, which might explain why I was measuring small when before I had been measuring a week or two bigger each time. They told me to drink lots of water to help bring that level back up a bit. I am usually really good about drinking lots of water, but I think I had gotten so busy that I was starting to slack off!

I had gained only .2 pounds since my 32 week appointment (23.3 total). I am guessing that also might have had to do with being dehydrated. My blood pressure was 119/70. The baby's heart rate on the Doppler was 163, but an hour later when I was having the ultrasound, she'd calmed down a bit. It was around 135. I also got my Tdap vaccine to protect against tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, which my doctor said I would get at the hospital after I deliver if I didn't get it now. I would rather get shots done now to get them over with! I already had to get a RhoGAM shot a few weeks back since I have a negative blood type. That will help protect the baby if she has a positive blood type. We won't know that until she's born, but if she does, I'll have to get another one of those shots after delivery to keep me from developing any antibodies to the Rh factor. That will protect any future babies that are Rh positive.

 

Here's my 34 week belly shot!

I had to work the Scholar of the Week Reception for the Honors College last Tuesday night. I grabbed a photo with my friend Big Red!