She takes after her brother.

Good news today! I had ultrasound today at the new facility after all the problems this week at the old facility. The new facility is actually the perinatology (high-risk obstetrics) office in town. I had to wait a half hour after my appointment to be seen, but, the practice had squeezed in a bunch of ultrasound patients like me that used to go to the old facility. I appreciate that they'd fit me in and work with all of us, so a little extra time wasn't the end of the world to me.

Anyway, the tech was super speedy. She flew through the measurements and checks. Since it was the first time I'd been to their office in this pregnancy they wanted a full check, not just the AFI and cervical length checks. Miss Thing is taking after Z in that she is a big girl for her age. She measures in the 80th percentile for 28 weeks, 4 days gestation at a whopping 3 pounds and 4 ounces (15% margin of error on those estimates). Her AFI came back at 10, which is up one from last week's 9--huge relief! For now, I stay on the current meds and I am not nearly as worried about her kidneys. My cervical length was 0.01 off from my measurement last week at the other facility. So that gives us nothing to worry about, even with the change in machines and calibrations.

After the tech was done, she asked me to wait. The perinatologist wanted to see me since it was my first office visit for this pregnancy. We'd done a pre-conception consultation with their practice back in January 2008, plus I'd had in-hospital consultations and treatment from perinates and neonates in the practice for Z and for this pregnancy. But I guess in-office makes a difference because no other doctor's name is on the chart for liability. Plus, you know, it's good medicine to be thorough.

The perinate ended up wanting to recheck a few things himself so I got a second ultrasound. He was much slower and chatty, which was kind of fun except that I'd been there for 2 hours and was getting kind of hungry. Plus my step-dad, who was my ride, had to pick Z up from preschool soon. The main thing the doc wanted to see was the placenta placement. Earlier ultrasounds found I have a low-lying anterior placenta. I have been considered at-risk for placenta previa--as if I don't have enough to cause worry! However, the ultrasound today shows it has corrected itself and I'm no longer considered at risk for this particular pregnancy problem. Yay!

While he was with me, he offered me a little perspective on baby girl's size. He said while we know my dates are accurate so he isn't going to try to change them, Miss Thing is currently the average size of a baby born at 29 weeks, 5 days gestation. She's only 28 weeks, 4 days. And her big brother, Z, was born at 29 weeks, 3 days, weighing in 5 ounces more than she is now!

Overall, I'm so hugely relieved after all the anxiety and nerves this past week. Everything looks great. She's progressing beautifully. We're getting so much closer to my relief zone of 34 weeks or more. We started out the bedrest with 10 weeks to get there. We've got about 4.5 more to go.

Thank you to everyone that reached out and has offered support--throughout the pregnancy, bed rest, and especially during the stress of this last week. I really appreciate it. Your support makes a world of difference in our lives.