Third trimester!

28 weeks!  (I still can’t believe I’m pregnant.)  And things look good!

Today I had a “growth” ultrasound.  Baby looks good. He’s measuring in the 56%.  (As my doctor said—pregnancy is the one time in your life you want to be average.)  So that’s good, especially because he was measuring a little small (~30^th%) at my 20 week appointment.  And all of his measurements are consistent—so it’s not like he has a small head and big femur.  So all good!  They gave me a 3D picture of his little face.  He’s smashed up against the uterine wall, with his umbilical cord running along the other side of his face.  (It’s not wrapped around him, though, which is good.)  He’s facing down, with his legs on my right side.  Cozy!

When she was doing the ultrasound, it was painful when she pushed on my upper right quadrant.  I told her that, and she said there was nothing medically wrong.  (My placenta is along my back, and there was nothing wrong with my uterus.)  I think that’s where his kicks have generally been, so I’m wondering if I might have a bruise??  Some of the kicks have been pretty strong.  If this is how it’s going to be when he’s ~2lbs 10oz, what happens when he’s pushing 8lbs?!

After the ultrasound I had a check-in with the doctor.  My blood pressure is good--118/74.  The doctor’s office has me at 25lbs up, although I know I’m closer to 30lbs.  Oh well.  I had a tetanus shot today, they checked my platelets (I don’t have results yet), they checked me for syphilis (no results yet, although I’m going to be pretty pissed at my husband if I do!), and I had my gestational diabetes test (no results yet).  I told her that I was trying to sleep on my left side, but that it was hard.  She told me not to worry too much about it and that my body would tell me if I were doing things to cut off blood circulation.

Starting at 30 weeks, I’m going to have weekly monitoring.  Every week I will have a biophysical profile.  That includes an ultrasound evaluation and a non-stress test.  The non-stress test involves measuring fetal heartrate, contractions, and movement.  The doctors are looking at baby’s breathing, movement, muscle tone, heart rate, and amniotic fluid.  The doctor told me that a normal BPP has a 99.9% chance of not having a stillbirth in the next 7 days.  (The normal risk is like 99% already.) 

My husband is a little worried about all the ultrasounds and their potential harm on the baby.  I don’t have the energy to read about risks or potential risks of ultrasound to baby right now. 

I’m still exercising (including running… although I think recently what I’ve been doing might be more accurately termed jog-walking).  Mostly, though, I have just been REALLY tired.  I’m getting this big bizzy baby to bed!