30 Weeks: Measuring Small

I don’t know how I could possibly be small, as I feel absolutely huge these days.

30 Weeks Pregnant

As I’ve mentioned, I’m now in the stage of pregnancy during which I visit the doctor every two weeks. The appointments are very quick–urine check, weight check, blood pressure check, belly measurement, and a quick listen to the heartbeat. Questions. Then we’re on our merry way.

My last appointment was on Friday, July 2, and I was 28w5d pregnant. At that appointment, I was up 16 lbs. from my pre-pregnancy weight, and my belly was measuring right on target at 29 centimeters (your uterus is supposed to measure as many centimeters as you are weeks pregnant).

Today, two weeks later (well, 11 days in this case), I was up two more pounds (I’m up a total of 18 lbs., if you’re keeping track). It’s normal to gain about 1-2 lbs. a week in this stage of pregnancy, so that’s normal. When the doctor came in and measured my belly, she said it was 29 centimeters. I didn’t think much of it at all, as it’s only one centimeter off from where I’m supposed to be. So, no big deal, right?

Well, that’s what I thought, until she looked at my chart and said, “You know, I’m actually going to send you for a growth ultrasound. Even though you’ve gained two pounds, your belly hasn’t shown any growth since last appointment. I want to make sure the baby is growing as it should, and ensure that the baby has enough fluid.” Since I’ve been measuring RIGHT on track throughout this entire pregnancy and I have all of a sudden fallen a bit behind, there is a little bit of concern.

Cue the internal mommy panic! My doctor was very nonchalant about it, so I feel *pretty* good about the situation, but still… it’s so much nicer to hear that everything is perfect. Also, my ultrasound is scheduled for next Wednesday (more than a week away), and I know that if there were something really wrong, there’s no way they would let me go that long.

Even so, I’m having mommy guilt. All afternoon, I’ve been thinking–I wonder if I’ve done something wrong. Am I not eating healthy enough? Am I not drinking enough fluids? I keep waking up on my back in the middle of the night… is that restricting blood flow to my baby? In my mind, surely I must be causing this to happen. My common sense tells me that my doctor is just being extra cautious, but GAHHH. I just want to know that everything is OK.

On the bright side, we get to sneak a peek at the baby again. I wasn’t expecting to have another ultrasound at all, and since we haven’t seen the little one since 19 weeks, it’ll be interesting to see him/her again. I’m crossing my fingers that everything looks beautiful and we don’t need to go through this again! Until then, I’m counting down the days until next Wednesday.

In other news, we started our birth preparation classes last night. The class is only three weeks–we’ll go for three consecutive Monday nights for 2.5 hours. Last night, we talked about some of the basics: some of the symptoms we’re all experiencing this late in pregnancy, the stages of labor, the way babies come through the pelvis, etc. We also worked on the first breathing technique, and did a relaxation exercise. It was interesting and it’s nice to be reminded/reassured of things, even if I’ve heard or read about them before. The class was made up of seven couples, including us. Two of them actually have the same due date as we do, so that was kind of funny.

Also at my appointment today, my doctor felt around to try to determine the position of the baby. I’ve been suspecting the baby is head down and that his/her back is on the right side of my belly, as the right always feels more firm than my left. I also feel most of the BIG movement on my right side, so I figured that just HAD to be the back/butt side. It turns out I was right! She said that the baby is still capable of flipping him/herself around at this point, but by 34 weeks, they like the baby to be in a consistent head-down position. I’m pretty sure my baby is already there, but there’s really no telling what some of those big movements are that I feel.

Going by the books, baby is about 3 lbs. now, and his/her eyesight is developing. Brain and lungs continue to develop as well, obviously! But we’ll get a better idea of our baby’s actual size after the growth ultrasound next week. Baby remains active; I feel him/her moving around much of the day. Still amazing!

Oh, and I’m totally celebrating the fact that I’m in the 30s now! Only 10 weeks to go. I feel like the next big milestone is 35 weeks… hopefully that will be here soon. :)