28 Weeks and "Normal"

There's nothing more reassuring during pregnancy than hearing the words, "Everything looks normal." We had our first 3rd Trimester check-up this week at the birth center, which means lots of tests: hemoglobin, glucose tolerance, uterine growth, etc. and everything came back NORMAL. I assumed that it would but, as you're sitting there watching the blood being drawn from your arm, this doubt creeps into your mind and you wonder, "What if I'm doing something wrong?" But, "normal" was the word of the week and for that, I'm truly thankful. It makes it hard to feel confident when you constantly have friends and strangers alike saying things like, "You can't possibly be 7 months along...you're much too tiny." or "You're only 7 months; your belly looks huge!!" I'm learning to just brush all the comments aside and wait until the midwives at the birth center give me the thumbs up, which will be every 2 weeks now, instead of once per month, now that we're in the 3rd Trimester.

We're hoping for some more "normal" results this coming week as we head into UNC Women's Hospital for our 29 Week ultrasound. Tuesday's the big day when we get the verdict: Cesarean at the hospital vs. Natural delivery at the Birth Center. We're praying for the latter!!! At my 2nd Trimester ultrasound, I was diagnosed with a partial placenta previa (the placenta was partially covering the opening of the cervix through which the baby will have to pass during delivery). We're hoping that on Tuesday, they'll say that the placenta has moved up high enough that it won't interfere with dilation of the cervix or normal delivery. If it's still too close to the cervix, there's no choice; we have to do a cesarean. So, keep praying that placenta up up up!!! We'll keep you updated. If anything, we'll get another sneak-peek at our little Molly inside her dark, warm home.

Molly and I entered the 3rd Trimester this week and we're gearing up for 3 months of rapid growth and development. As of this week, Molly should weigh about 2.5 pounds and is about 16 inches long. She's beginning to fill up her temporary home and stretching out is becoming more difficult. I had the amazing experience this week of feeling what I believe was a tiny hand pushing out of my belly as she was trying to stretch out. It looked like she was waving "Hi" to me!!! She has learned a new skill this week that she'll add to her growing repertoire of activities which already includes coughing, sucking, hiccupping, and "practice breathing". She has learned this week to blink and can do so voluntarily or involuntarily when a bright light is shined on my belly. She has also started dreaming this week, thanks to the REM sleep she has started experiencing as part of her normal sleep schedule. I actually think I caught her dreaming the other night. As I was sitting on the couch, it felt like she was sleeping because she was so "quiet". All of a sudden, she sort of "spazzed out" and everything was going at once...arms, legs, knees, fists. It reminded me of when you wake up in the middle of a "running dream" or a "falling dream" and you start flailing your arms in your sleep. So, sweet dreams to you, Molly and I hope you don't have too many more running dreams...for your sake and mine :-)

Below are some pictures from the baby shower my Orange Charter School co-workers put together for Molly a few weeks ago and I never got a chance to post.