29 week update!

YAY!! I'm so happy to be here!! Earlier on in the pregnancy it felt like time was standing still, so to be 3/4 of the way done is super exciting! I'm starting to let more and more of the worry go and just enjoy being pregnant.

So, technically today I am 29 weeks and 6 days. Thanks to the cold that didn't quit, this has turned into an almost-30 week update. But the pics and the ultrasound images were taken at 29 weeks so I'm sticking with it. ;-)

As far as news goes, nothing too exciting to report. Which, as far as I'm concerned is good news. I went to 3 doctors appointments in 2 days this week. (Not. Fun.) My perinatologist is happy with how I'm doing and how the baby is growing. She's a little over 3 pounds (!?!?!) and right at the 47th percentile for weight. My OB and perinatologist have confirmed that, starting at 30 weeks I have to get weekly NST's (or non-stress tests) to monitor the baby and those will ramp up to twice weekly starting at 34 weeks.

This is a pretty easy test (just lay back while they use fetal monitors to look at the baby's baseline heart-rate and accelerations, usually they don't last more than 30 minutes) but it's a bummer how many more appointments I'll be having. Plus, these tests are not part of the pregnancy package that my OB offers, so I'll be paying for them separately. Luckily they are still covered by insurance so I think my portion will only be about $20 per test. (Still, at 20 bucks a pop, that's a total of 12 NSTs if I deliver at 38 weeks. So $240? Plus my pregnancy package, plus hospital fees, plus Endo visits and perinatology visits. This little girl is already proving to be high-maintenance! ;-)

Besides my OB and perinatologist, I also saw my Endo this week. My A1C is still 5.3 (yay!) but my blood sugars from testing and wearing my CGM for a week show that I'm spiking too high after meals (170s-180s) and going scary low (30s-40s) throughout the night. So we made some tweaks, I'm emailing the nurse practitioner with my sugars weekly and I'll go back for more labs and another office visit in a month.

Meanwhile, I'm growing like crazy! Even though, according to my OB, I've only gained 10 pounds up to this point. I'm starting to get a little more uncomfortable (mostly in the breathing department) and the battle with my upper respiratory infection didn't help that much. Otherwise I'm still feeling really good. The little girl is using my uterus as her own personal bounce house, much to my and Brad's delight, because it's just a reminder that she's doing great in there! On to belly pics!

Here is a reminder of me at 25 weeks . .

And here I am at 29 weeks! Sorry about the light, it's another night-time shot. The thing that I noticed the most about this picture is how kinda pointy my belly is starting to get. Weird, huh?

And here are some ultrasound pics from the 29 week ultrasound. She is head down and hopefully will stay that way until delivery. But because of this and how big she's getting it's harder and harder to get a good shot of her face. Here is the best 2D pic we got of her profile.

And, just for fun, here's a (pretty distorted) footprint.

This is the best 3D shot they could get of her face. It's still pretty distorted since one side of her face is pressing against the uterine and she's got her arm in front of the other side of her face. (Can you see her elbow sticking out in front of her?) But that's our girl! Look at her chubby cheeks! :-D

So that's where we are at 29 (almost 30) weeks. I can't believe how soon she'll be here. Only about 8 more weeks to go!