Waiting For a Message
Tuesday was ultrasound day. It was absolutely amazing to see my daughter flipping around, sucking her finger, yawning, and trying to hide her face while the u/s tech tried to get a good picture. She's 12 oz, putting her in the 54%. I was initially concerned she wasn't bigger, until I remembered she has to come out--average is good! They said she had a small nose and Phil and I joked that the fertility center must have given us the wrong embryo because neither of us has genes for that. We'll have to wait and see if she comes with curly, red hair.
They were also able to explain why I hadn't felt her move yet--my placenta is anterior, meaning it attached to the front of the uterus, so it acts as a cushion keeping me from feeling her kicks and turns. They said I should feel something in a few more weeks. My doctor also advised that I have placenta previa, meaning it's attached down low, very close to the cervix. At this point, it's nothing to worry about because 1 in 3 pregnancies experiences this at 20 weeks. However, if it doesn't "move up" as my uterus grows, then I may have to have a c-section. Luckily, less than 1% of pregnancies still have this problem at delivery, so I'm feeling very positive. I'm scheduled for another ultrasound in 8 weeks to see if it's moving.
For those of you keeping track, the general message I received was that everything was fine and we'd just have to wait and see how things go. If you recall, I'm not a patient person. To say that waiting is not my forte is being far too kind. Still, I think I'm doing pretty well. I'm roughly half done--with this part anyway; there are at least 18 more years to consider. I guess the take home message is the same as it often is for me (funny how stubborn people keep getting the same message, as though we're actually supposed to learn it rather than ignore it). But I digress. The message is, take each day as it comes. Enjoy the moment. Tomorrow will be what it will, so make the most of today. The truth is, if I keep waiting for the next thing, I won't enjoy the current one. I should enjoy not feeling the baby, because at some point it will wake me up. Enjoy being pregnant, because soon the baby will be less portable and less quiet. Enjoy summer, because fall and winter aren't fall behind. Enjoy Saturday because Monday will soon be here. So, my goal is to actually do this. And I'm going to start by enjoying today.
They were also able to explain why I hadn't felt her move yet--my placenta is anterior, meaning it attached to the front of the uterus, so it acts as a cushion keeping me from feeling her kicks and turns. They said I should feel something in a few more weeks. My doctor also advised that I have placenta previa, meaning it's attached down low, very close to the cervix. At this point, it's nothing to worry about because 1 in 3 pregnancies experiences this at 20 weeks. However, if it doesn't "move up" as my uterus grows, then I may have to have a c-section. Luckily, less than 1% of pregnancies still have this problem at delivery, so I'm feeling very positive. I'm scheduled for another ultrasound in 8 weeks to see if it's moving.
For those of you keeping track, the general message I received was that everything was fine and we'd just have to wait and see how things go. If you recall, I'm not a patient person. To say that waiting is not my forte is being far too kind. Still, I think I'm doing pretty well. I'm roughly half done--with this part anyway; there are at least 18 more years to consider. I guess the take home message is the same as it often is for me (funny how stubborn people keep getting the same message, as though we're actually supposed to learn it rather than ignore it). But I digress. The message is, take each day as it comes. Enjoy the moment. Tomorrow will be what it will, so make the most of today. The truth is, if I keep waiting for the next thing, I won't enjoy the current one. I should enjoy not feeling the baby, because at some point it will wake me up. Enjoy being pregnant, because soon the baby will be less portable and less quiet. Enjoy summer, because fall and winter aren't fall behind. Enjoy Saturday because Monday will soon be here. So, my goal is to actually do this. And I'm going to start by enjoying today.