Our Sweet Baby Girl

{This photo is difficult to see and I'm clueless about how the heck to write on it and label it for you. Wish I knew. If anyone reading this does, please share. You can see her little eyes closed there. She has one hand on her left cheek and the other one just below her nose, as she's sucking on it. It was soo cute. We could see her little lips going in a sucking motion. It melts my heart. Really. Too bad she's so naughty and refused to take her hands off her face for her 3D images. It would have been so nice to get a better look at her, but she's a stubborn one and does only what she wants to. She was kicking the ultrasound tech when the tech prodded her to move her hands from her face. Nice!}

I've been waiting to share the latest baby news with all of you in order to confirm the situation. Last week to add to the excitement (read: terror) about the little one coming early, the doctor announced the baby's fundal measures were small. She said that they have been small for a while now, and she had been hoping for a growth spurt. She decided that it was time for an ultrasound to further analyze the situation.

Fast forward to today and imagine a $hitload of googling + a whole bunch worrying in between + a Mommy who has been sick to her stomach for days and a Daddy who was very seriously concerned that his daughter was going to come out a "little person", to put it politely. I've walked around here for days saying aloud to nobody and to anybody who would listen, "Our baby is fine. It's just the way I'm carrying her." Or, "She's little because I'm little. My Dad is short. We're short people." And, "Petite is good. Cute for sure." If you've ever walked in these shoes, you know that telling yourself these things only goes so far. {For no reason at all I'm tears right now, as I write this. Maybe it's the release of the build-up I have yet to succomb to??) It's hard to worry about your child and his or her well-being, no matter what the age (gestation in my case). The road we've travelled down to get here has not come close to what some women have been through and I know that. Nonetheless, it has been a long and winding one. This pregnancy alone has kept us on our toes, non-stop. All of this can make a girl sick.

And maybe it has..... Today the nurse told me that I've lost weight since I was there on Friday. Huh?!

The news we received today was good, better than I expected for sure. Shocking news but, for the most part, good. The ultrasound shows the baby as anything but small. She's actually 4.2 lbs. From what I read this is at least a week ahead of where they say she is. She's in the 75th percentile for dates. This takes me back to the idea that they're damned dates are just plain wrong. I truly believe she's almost two weeks ahead of where they say she is. That's based on my calculations, but what do I know...I'm just her creator!!!! The doctor tells me she has no idea where I'm carrying the baby. I do...in my lower back. The pain there is unbearable 25 hours a day! While I don't really need to have a 10 lb. baby, I'm ok with her being a quarter of the weight I've gained so far!!

The other news, good but not that good, is that the hard head pressed against my cervix for the past three weeks turns out to be a butt. The doctor has been saying how she's right down there in position for a while now. In actuality, she's breech. That's the part that's no good. Don't get me wrong - a healthy baby is a perfect baby, but I'll do anything I can to avoid a c-section. The doctor plans to monitor me for the next four weeks to see if she changes. She's hopeful since the Peanut is very active and statistics show 2 out of every 3 babies in a breech position at this point will shift by 36 weeks. If she doesn't decide to be a good little girl herself, we will probably take matters into our own hands. The doctor talked to us about a manual shift which we know all about and are prepared to attempt, despite the pain, so long as it does not stress Baby Girl. She WILL be monitored before and during and the process will be stopped at the slightest sign of stress. Now, I know that it seems cruel but you can't say what you'd do unless you've been in my shoes. If you have been here, and you opted not to do this procedure, I respect your decision. Please respect mine. With that said, the doctor also discussed acupuncture with us. I'm looking into it and hoping to pursue that route if she hasn't moved her trouble-making butt out of her pretty little head's way by the next appointment. We'll see. I do prefer the natural route over the torturous one....for the record!