Week 36: So Happy, Relieved, etc.

Yes, baby had his/her face turned away from the camera again and would not budge for a glimpse at the profile, BUT...

Baby is head down!!!

So exciting! The ultrasound tech said that he/she is laying on its side (but vertical), with its head turned to the side (towards my back). She also pointed out (again) how much hair the baby has. It is REALLY active and has plenty of fluid in which to move, so there is a chance it could turn again. The doctor said that contractions (I had some on Saturday) will only help move the baby downward and make it less likely it will flip.

He/She was playing with its feet during the ultrasound, grabbing onto its toes. It also stretched an arm out really long and sort of waved to us. Too cute. We got to see the chest rising/falling, too, which the tech said is good to see--practicing its breathing. The only pictures we got were of the hair (which is just a white blur) and a foot (which doesn't look very clear at all), so I'm not going to scan them in.

I am also 1cm dilated, which is something totally new to me! I was never dilated at all with Lewis until the induction at 41 weeks, so I fully expected to get the same report this time around. I am curious/uncertain now to see how things progress!

Back next Monday!


Oh, and...
We have come to a consensus on some names that we both actually like and could live with--we are down to THREE boy possibilities and FOUR girl possibilities. That is progress for us. :)

34 Week Update

Back of the Head

At my 20 week ultrasound, the baby was breech (which is no big deal, so was Lewis at that point). My doctor had scheduled an ultrasound for 34 weeks to see if he/she had flipped, so today was the day. Unfortunately, this baby did not cooperate like Lewis had at this point--this one is sideways (transverse). The head is up in my right ribs (as I've thought it's felt like for months) and the butt is pointing at my left hip. [Side note: I can do sort of a Stupid Human Trick--if I push on the head, it dances/kicks down at my belly button. It's nice to know which body parts are which now. :)]

My doctor gave me three options: to do nothing, schedule a C-section, or do a version (external cephalic version), where they physically try to push the baby (from the outside) to the head down position. She said that the do nothing plan was not really a plan at all, and she wants to avoid a C-section since I've already given birth the old-fashioned way. Since I have plenty of fluid, have already had a child, and the baby is already halfway there (not fully breech), she said I'm an 'ideal' candidate for the version, so we decided to go with that.

In the meantime, I do have some stretches to do at home to try to get it to flip, but if those don't work, the version will be happening in two weeks. I'm nervous about it because I just had a friend describe hers to me, and it was like worst case scenario all the way. BUT, she was full term and it was her first baby and the cord was involved and so on...my doctor was pretty reassuring about the whole thing today.

My doc does not actually do versions (she said she's tried in the past, but has been unsuccessful), so I'm going next week to meet one of the two doctors in the practice who does do them. He will talk to me about it and then schedule it for the following week (if it's still necessary). If it doesn't work, they will schedule a C-section for later on. If it does work, I get to go home and go about things as normal until I go into labor (assuming I go into labor on my own this time).

The baby was also turned away from the camera, so all we got were back-of-the-head shots. :) The ultrasound tech was able to show us that the baby has a full head of hair, so that was cool to see. Otherwise, everything looks fine, I guess.

20 Week Ultrasound

Today was our big ultrasound, and thankfully everything looks great! The baby is breech, just like Lewis was at this point, but it's nothing to be concerned with right now. The ultrasound tech was great about telling us when to look away so that she didn't accidentally reveal whether it's a she or a he. :) She (the tech) said that he/she has very BIG feet, which is no surprise. Baby T. was flipping around quite a bit during the ultrasound, making it difficult to get the needed measurements at times, but eventually all was good. He/She is measuring spot on with our 'due date' (still using that term very loosely so as not to pin myself down). :) The pictures are a little bit blurrier than they were with Lewis, but hopefully you can still make out the general idea:

 Profile

 Looking straight on at the face

You can see the eye sockets, nose (white lines), and mouth (open) and little chin. Baby also yawned during the ultrasound, which was adorable. :)

Those big feet!