She's Here!

Clara Elizabeth was born June 14th. Birth story and all will now be on my family blog.

Picture comparisons

I had planned on doing this earlier so the weeks would be the same, but hey. I wanted to compare my baby bellies. The first picture is me at 34 weeks with Tyler and the second is me at 37 weeks with Clara. I know it's 3 weeks difference, but its still comforting that my 37 weeks picture is bigger than my 34 weeks picture since size has been such an issue this pregnancy. That's got to mean growth right?

Tyler

Clara

Finally!

So they never called, but I had an appointment yesterday and finally got the results of my ultrasound - AFTER I asked about it. He was all ready to send me out the door and I meekly asked, "ummm what about my ultrasound???" Oh yes, that thing I sent you in for to scare the pants off you. Well, he doesn't seem too worried anymore which is a good thing, but according to the numbers she still isn't really growing much. As of this last ultrasound she is in the 22nd percentile which is 12 percent lower than the first one. I know he told me 45th percentile initially, but apparently he meant 34th because that's what he told me yesterday. But he asserts that every ultrasound at this stage has a 10 percent standard deviation on both sides so she is probably fine. He didn't tell me anything about her measurements so I'm guessing if he's not too worried that they at least increased a little. He said he is not worried about a chromosomal defect, because if it were to show up, it would have showed up earlier, or IUGR as they have to be below the 10th percentile for that to be an issue. Phew! a sigh of relief there. He said most likely its nothing or a genetic defect - being a problem with her metabolism (aka liver, kidney, intestines, etc). But those are fairly rare so most likely its nothing, she's just small. Really small apparently. But I hold to me my belief that these ultrasounds are notoriously off. I've heard so many stories of babies being in these low low percentiles and then coming out quite average or vice versa, being in high percentiles and coming out smaller. He said that since her movement is good, which it is thank goodness, and I have no risk factors things are probably fine.

However, he went ahead and sent me in for an NST yesterday to check heart rate and amniotic fluid level. Good news is that she has plenty of fluid surrounding her and the nurse/technician lady giving me the NST said that usually if there is a problem with the baby or the placenta the amniotic fluid would be low so YAY! Another good sign! Her heart rate was a bit high, but she didn't seem overly concerned - just reminded me to drink more water. Her movement, like I said earlier, was also good, so good news all around. Pretty much at this stage we just wait for her to come. There is no way to know if there is a metabolic problem until she's born and obviously her size is pretty much a guessing game until she's here - so wait and see it is.

I am feeling a bit worried, but mostly confident that everything is fine. All signs point to a healthy (albeit small) baby. Good amniotic fluid level, good movement, healthy mommy, some growth (I think), and I remember at my last ultrasound the technician pointing out her bladder and tummy being full, which in my mind means she's at least giving that metabolic system a workout, and all her organs looked good at her level II ultrasound months ago and I don't see why that would have all of a sudden changed. All in all, unless there is a problem that has gone undetected, which does happen occasionally, she is fine. I'll be 37 weeks (full term!) tomorrow and as much as I want her here already, I want to give her as long as possible to grow grow grow so hopefully I'll go my last 3 weeks.