Who's having a 14-pound baby?! Well, apparently I am. We went in for our ultrasound last week, and my NP's (that's an abbrev for Nurse Practitioner...and yes, I just abbreviated the word abbreviate) suspicions were confirmed - I am actually further along with little Pele Parr than originally thought. How much further along is still a mystery, as I will not get a new due date until we have our next appointment on July 6, but according to the ultrasound I am a solid four weeks ahead of where we thought. So if that projection stands at the doctors appointment it will mean that tomorrow I will not reach the 30 week mark, but actually week 34...WOWSERS!! So now that I've ruined the build-up by outing the juicy detail of this blog post, let's have the story about the ultrasound itself...which is still pretty entertaining, even given the outed climax.
Prior to the ultrasound I was given a sheet of explicit instructions which outlined exactly what I was to do to prepare...which was basically drink a ton of water and then not pee for 2 hours
before even arriving at the doctors office. I am a rule-follower when it comes to these sorts of matters, and a relentless detail freak when it comes to any sorts of matters, so I followed the instructions to the T. And have never in my life been in such urinary distress. Walking was difficult, as was sitting, and let's not even get into how much it hurt to laugh (Michelle and Tomas were present for the festivities, so not laughing was an impossible expectation.) Factor in a baby bouncing on my bladder like a trampoline, and you get a clear picture of what I was dealing with. No, I did not end up peeing my pants, but I definitely did lay down on the floor to relieve the pressure on my bladder, and when the sonographer came to get us she told me to just go. So I did. No, not on the floor, in the bathroom. And almost begrudgingly...all of that for nothing?! We found out later that having a full bladder for the ultrasound is good for the sonographer because the more liquid that's in there the more they can see. Apparently I still had plenty in there because she could see everything just fine.
Which brings us to the ultrasound itself, and as much as it makes me laugh that every single parent talks about their child as though they are the smartest, most advanced, sevant-likely kid in the universe, I have to say...we have a
perfect little baby cookin in there! :) Baby's brain and spine are perfectly formed, all organs are in their place and thriving, there's fluid where it's supposed to be, and no fluid where it's not supposed to be...Hmm, what else? No gestational diabetes, no cleft lip, appendages, bones and joints are all looking good and there are no markers for spina bifida, anencephaly or down syndrome. The baby has already turned so it will come out head first, and is also already facing the right way, so we're looking good and highly optimistic to welcome a healthy, thriving little one! Of course nothing is ever 100% until D-Day (that's what I call baby's birthday...get it, "D" is short for "Delivery"? I rule) but, like I said, we are optimistic.
To get to the issue of the baby measuring big the sonographer basically told me that if my original due date of September 2 is correct, then I'll be giving birth to a 14-pound child. Pass. Not sure how that 14-pound child would plan on getting out of my belly. I'll be happy to sire an anomaly, but let's have it do something cool like be born singing instead of crying...not just
be huge. It's pretty crazy to think that we may have just fast-forwarded this whole song and dance
four weeks!</i> That would mean that everything throughtout my pregnancy has actually happened four weeks later than we thought...I was 2 months prego at Christmas, I felt the baby kick for the first time at 20 weeks - not 16, I didn't start showing until 25 weeks - not 21 like we thought...this is insane! But there is certainly an upside, if D-Day is four weeks earlier than originally thought we should have a babe in arms at least a week before Tommy heads to Roc for Dan and Allison's wedding - and that will be a huge relief! No pressure on the trip, no worrying about whether or not the huge pregnant girl is going into labor, everyone will be able to enjoy themselves, and maybe even strategically set up a webcam so I can say hi at some point during the weekend. Maybe that can even be my wedding present...not being pregnant during the nuptials :)
Oh! Speaking of nuptials, Tommy and I will celebrate our 1-year anniversary on Saturday! Fortunately for us we will never, ever forget when our anniversary is, as it is the day after Michael Jackson passed away. As tragic and terrible and blah blah blah as that is, I gotta be honest, it's a pretty reliable marker. We're planning a pretty low-key day...well, as low-key as watching USA play in the World Cup with Thomas Alfred Parr can be, that is. Which brings us to World Cup Soccer. Today the US defeated Algeria to move on to the elimination round of 16 in the World Cup, and I have never before in my life seen a man
literally experience hysterics before today. It was a simply
fantastic game, that even now, 16 hours later, inspires comments of "I still can't believe that game" in various forms from my husband as he sits in his Pop-Pop chair and plays FIFA on 360. I'm not exaggerating when I say he was laughing and crying at the same time for a good 10 minutes after Donovan scored the win goal in today's game. Landon Donovan is pretty good, I guess, but I choose to credit the win to the USA windsock, red, white and blue paper lanterns, and American flag banners hanging in our living room. True patriots over here. True.
And on that note, I shall retire from this unusually long blog entry and attempt to put together our baby stroller. My wonderfully creative madre is throwing a "virtual baby shower" for us on Saturday (which will be another part of our low-key anniversary day) over Skype. We've been receiving gifts for the last several weeks off of our registry from the fam and Saturday we'll show them all off to everyone over Skype as they gather at my parents house for a party in our honor. Just because we aren't there doesn't mean they can't get together to celebrate, right? Right! So in the meantime we have plenty of little projects to keep busy with in the evening to prepare for said shower. And with that, I bid you adieu. Go American Sports!
A couple of pics for the road, from Ultrasound Day...
It's hard to smile, I have to pee!
Taking pictures of my torture
Trying to relieve the pressure...Mich made sure the caution sign was in place so no one stepped on me. We were the only people in the room, but still.
