34 Weeks

Today was our 34 week appointment. I've been a bit anxious about this one as it's the marker when I was pregnant with Harper where I had my 3rd trimester ultrasound and discovered that her fluid was a little low. 1 week and 1 day later I was having an emergency c-section. While I know God is in control and I know every pregnancy is different, it's still hard not to compare the two and I've had this milestone in my head, looking forward to getting past it.

However things today looked great! His fluid measured 17cm, which means it is continuing to decrease, but still in a normal range. All the things they check for at this stage were normal. He was very active and showing great movement for all the markers. I remember Harper was asleep and had to be woken up to check her hand movements and things, so I find it very funny that this little guy was completely the opposite.

And the most surprising news (for me!) was that he has turned! He's no longer breech, but is now head down. Yay! I have felt very different movements in there, but I had it in my head that he would continue to be breech until delivery, so I was quite shocked.

I asked the doctor for an estimate on his size and based on the ultrasound measurements, he's about 6 lbs, which is just over average at this stage in the pregnancy. Perhaps the most shocking part is that his head is already measuring the same size as a 39-weeker!!! The doctor had a good time joking that "well, no wonder he flipped -- he's top heavy! He couldn't hold that thing up any more!" Oh, so funny. And scary! Makes me very thankful I'm having a c-section.

Also, I described some of the recent twinges and things, and he said they were most likely contractions. I never experienced any contractions with Harper at all, so I feel like a first time mom in that area. Anticipating that I will go full-term this time, it's a very real possibility that I could actually go into labor. He confirmed that I did happen to start laboring, he wouldn't stop it at this point. Wow! This pregnancy is truly different in every single way.

As we were finishing up the appointment, I mentioned that I'll see him again in two weeks, which would put me at 36 weeks. Sensing my nervousness about passing the 35 week mark, he said, "well, why don't you come in next week and we'll have a look?". I told him that I would be fine, I'd just pay extra attention to movement and things going on, but even I wasn't very convincing to myself. His reply was "Right, okay so we'll see you next week." Relief. I'm SURE everything is going to be just fine, but I truly will feel so much better having total confidence about passing the marker.