She's Still a Girl

Yesterday we went to the doctor for our regular appointment (which are now every 2 weeks) and for our final ultrasound (or so we thought). The girl doing our ultrasound was awesome and sent us home with 11 different pictures! The only problem is that they are not very clear at all because she's grown so much and takes up more space. It's hard to make out the different parts of her, but we try. The first order of business- we had her double check to make sure that we were still having a girl. We'd be ok if not, but there'd be a lot of work to do starting with repainting the nursery. It's amazing the things that they are able to see in a basic ultrasound. We watched her as she yawned and stuck out her tongue and opened and closed her mouth. She rubbed her hands over her face and squirmed a bit. She is in the head down position and has been for some time now. It was great to be able to put a movement with a body part. For example, I usually feel quick and wiggly movements down low. Those are her hands. The tech was also able to tell that she has a "decent" amount of hair already. All of her measurements are good except for the size of her belly. By belly I mean if you were to take a tape measure and wrap it around her waist. Her belly is measuring about 2 weeks behind the rest of her body. They told me that in order to help her with this I need to drastically increase my intake of protein. That really surprised me. I figured they would have said to increase my vegetables or something gross like that, but protein? I love peanut butter, eggs, meat, etc. So at least I have to increase an area that I already enjoy! They've scheduled another ultrasound in 2 weeks along with our regular appointment to measure her again. At that point, if she's still 2 weeks behind schedule, they won't worry as much because she will at least be keeping pace. However, if she's 3-4 weeks behind schedule, then she's not making improvements. I'm not sure what they do at that point. I believe that the worst case scenario is that she will be really skinny. Other than that, she checks out just fine. At this point she weighs 3lb. 3oz. and they guess that her birth weight will be no more than 6lb. 12 oz., give or take a 1/2 a pound. Until then, Aaron has already started pumping me with protein. We had eggs for dinner last night and this morning he made me one of his protein shakes.

All else remains about the same right now. I had my glucose test a few weeks back and I tested just fine for that but it did show that I am anemic. I just have to take an iron supplement each day. It has really helped with my tiredness and dizziness. Oh, and I also have PUPPS. I had never heard of it before. It's the most common pregnancy rash that a woman can get. Sexy, huh?! It causes no harm to the mom or baby except for those brief moments of insanity when the itching becomes so intense! Luckily so far, the rash is only on my belly and a little on my sides. The doctor said that it will not spread to the face. Unfortunately, there is nothing they can do except to keep me comfortable. I was told that I could take Benadryl but I'd rather not unless I absolutely have to so I haven't so far. The rash will go away 1-2 weeks after delivery. One girl told me that this was my payback for not having any morning sickness. It's not too bad if I don't think about it and get busy doing something else. But if I accidently scratch my belly, it's all down hill from there. Lucky me. My moma said that she had never heard of it either but that if it's out there, I'd be the one to find it... Sad, but probably true.