Surprise ultrasound

Yesterday we had our 36-week appointment and for once there was a little excitement. We saw a doctor we hadn't seen before (we'll be rotating among them for the next few weeks since who delivers Claire depends on who's on call; this way we'll at least have met all of the doctors). He measured me at 33 cm., which was a centimeter smaller than I measured at my last appointment (when I measured right on at 34 cm./34 weeks). The centimeters are supposed to match how many weeks pregnant you are.

He said the change could a) mean the baby had dropped or b) indicate I was losing amniotic fluid, which would be bad, and he ordered an ultrasound for later in the afternoon to see which it was. Matt was pumped about that because he was kind of nervous all along that we weren't going to have an ultrasound between the sex-discovery one and the birth, which I guess does seem like a long time. I was excited because I thought we'd be able to see her face, which we did, but you couldn't tell anything about her features except that they're there. We weren't worried because her heart rate was good, she was moving great, and if there was a problem with the amniotic fluid, they could have delivered her immediately if needed and she would have been fine.

The ultrasound went well -- all the measurements are right on and there's plenty of amniotic fluid -- which means the baby has dropped, yay! I'm also 50 percent effaced but not at all dilated. And according to the ultrasound, she weighs 6 pounds, give or take 14 ounces, which, granted, is a big margin of error. They say she's gaining half an ounce a day now (more on the days I work at home and eat pink jellybeans for eight straight hours), so she's on target to be a good, healthy weight -- not too big, not too small.
I owe the blog a 36-week-bump picture. Probably it will come tomorrow, because I think the camera's at the office.

Ultrasound pictures

I can't decipher much from them, but here are Tuesday's ultrasound pictures. She wiggled around a lot but didn't do anything awesome like give us a thumbs-up, like Brianna did. :)

We thought we'd be ready to announce the name by now but we aren't quite there. It's such a big decision -- so permanent! And so many things to consider. Will her monogram spell out something vulgar? Is there a famous murderer with this name? Does it suit a teenager, business woman, mom, grandmother as well as it suits a cute baby? Will people constantly misspell it? Aaaah!

We're probably 90 percent decided and hope to make a final decision in a few days so we (and you) can start referring to her by name. Although for now I'm happy just to be able to call her "her" instead of "it."

It's a girl!

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Bedside manner: negative

We went for our first ultrasound last Thursday at five weeks, six days and I was excited that we might get to see the heartbeat because once the heartbeat's been detected the chance of miscarriage drops to less than 10 percent. But I was trying not to be too excited because the heartbeat can't always be seen that early -- a few days can make a big difference around six weeks. Still, I hoped.

So we went in and the ultrasound started and after a few seconds the ultrasound tech asks me "Have you HAD a positive pregnancy test?" HUH? My heart dropped and I said "Yes" and she kept moving the wand around and didn't say another word for what felt like forever but must have really been five or 10 minutes. I couldn't see the screen so I didn't have any idea what was going on but I felt sure she'd tell me when she found the baby. I was freaking out in my mind and praying really, really hard for her to find the baby and for it to be fine.

I could only think of three possibilities: a) I'd had a miscarriage, which I didn't think was likely because I hadn't had bleeding or cramps or any other symptoms; b) I hadn't been pregnant in the first place, which I didn't think was likely because I'd had five positive home pregnancy tests and a positive blood test at the doctor's office; c) the baby wasn't where it was supposed to be, which I figured couldn't be good (ectopic?). She just kept moving the wand around and not saying a word.

Finally, she moved the screen so I could see it and pointed out the baby and its heartbeat (yay!) and said it was measuring right on schedule. I told her, "Your silence was scaring me!" but I was so relieved my annoyance quickly disappeared.

She left so I could get dressed and Matt and I agreed that was terrifying. He had been able to see the screen from where he sat so although it did take her a couple of minutes to find the baby, he saw her find it. But HE DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING. So for several minutes, while she was measuring the baby, etc., I was the only person in the room who thought she was still looking in vain for the baby.

I asked Matt, "WHY didn't you say something when she found it?!" and did not get a satisfactory response. Oh well. All's well that ends well.
(He thinks this picture looks like a creepy rabbit. I can see it too.)