Baby, Baby, Baby

Saturday we got up bright and early to go over to Midcoast Hospital for a birth class. Snowman was less than enthusiastic, but was at least looking forward to the tour of the maternity area. The class started off slowly, but, I think it was worthwhile. It was nice to get a tour of the maternity floor, and to get an overview of medicine options, talk more about the stages of labor and what happens with a C-section, etc. However, all of this could have been accomplished in 3 hours instead of 5, which would have made it much less painful for all involved! The rest of the afternoon was spent running a few errands, etc, and then getting ready for Sunday's Bradbury Bruiser race.

We got a bit of a late start on Sunday, but still managed to make it over to Bradbury in plenty of time for me to help with registration and to chat with people as they were getting their numbers. It was a bit overcast, but the skies brightened up as the morning progressed, and it was a bit warm and humid. After the racers took off, I hung out with Jamie, Jerry and Rick, chatting away until it was time to get on with the timing duties. The winner's time was smoking fast, and the field got pretty spread out over the 12 mile course, so luckily the timing was relatively easy. All the Trail Monsters turned out great races, although Snowman took a bit of a beating out on the course and was dragging as he crossed the finish. Poor guy. Still, I'm glad he toughed it out and finished as best he could. As usual, Ian put on a great race, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves out there (or as much as one can when running the twisty turny hell of the 'O' trail in the last 2 miles of the race!).

This morning I had a doctor's appointment at 9:15. We did not get home until 2:30. Ugh. I was once again measuring small, so I got sent down for an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed the little lady looking healthy - practicing breathing, good heart rate, moving - but indicated that my amniotic fluid was a bit low and that she was only measuring in the 4th percentile for weight. Last month, she was in the 23rd percentile. Not good. But she was also in a bit of a strange position, so this could have had an affect on the measurements. Regardless, this meant we headed upstairs for a non-stress test, to test the baby's heart in response to its movement, and to help determine whether she was getting enough oxygen. Things were looking good, but the doctor came in and told us that she was worried about how small the baby was measuring and had made us an appointment for a more specialized ultrasound down at Maine Medical with a high risk OB/GYN for 1:00. Basically, although the little lady was looking healthy and could just be a small but healthy baby, the fear was that the placenta might not be functioning correctly or that something else was wrong. Basically, the 4th percentile made her worry. So, off to Portland we went. There, we had ultrasound #2 for the day.

Luckily, this more sophisticated/specialized ultrasound determined my amniotic fluid to be a bit higher, and her weight to be a bit higher, putting her in the 17th percentile. Still small, but not small enough for major worry. Again, she was practicing breathing, which the tech said indicated a contented, non-stressed baby, moving, heart rate was good, and the blood going from the placenta to the baby was moving well, so that meant no issues there. Phew! This does mean, of course, that I am being more closely monitored over the next few weeks with more ultrasounds already scheduled to ensure she's OK, but at least for the time being, all is good with the world, and we're just on track for having a small, but healthy, little lady! But man, it was a stressful morning!! I am definitely having some ice cream tonight :-)