First Third Trimester Belly Shots and Appointment

Back in high school, I was a part-time discus thrower. I bring this up because it was the first thing I thought of today when my doctor told me the baby probably weighs a little over two pounds now! The discuses females at the high school level throw weigh 2.1 pounds.

My glucola "breakfast" ended up not being anywhere near as bad as I imagined. I had put it in the refrigerator about a week ago, and was very glad I did. Cold, I found it wasn't too bad. Warm it probably would have been more nasty. It tasted a lot like the orange drink McDonald's had when I was a little girl, or maybe Hi-C. Sweet, but not as sickeningly sweet as some grocery store birthday cake frosting. I only had to drink 10 ounces in 10 minutes.

An hour later, I went in for my appointment where another pregnant lady apparently didn't drink hers in advance and was handed one at room temperature to consume. She was still reading a magazine when my appointment was over. I was so glad I followed directions and didn't forget. Minutes after I arrived, they took me in to check my stats and draw some blood. My weight is up 14 pounds total, only one pound since my last appointment four weeks ago. They said it is excellent. I am not surprised by such a small gain, because last time my weight had jumped by 5 pounds on the day of the appointment but I noticed at home it went down after that. My blood pressure is still really consistent, 110/60. The brief blood work wasn't bad either, as my veins popped out well and there were plenty of baby announcements on the wall to look at. I think they only took one vial. They said if I don't get a call by the end of the week, that is good news.

The rest of the appointment was fun and quick. I laid back on the table and the doctor measured my uterus. He said I had a little growth spurt and was now measuring a little over 27 weeks (which is right on track, I was measuring a week behind before). He also commented that even my long torso was starting to run out of room. Next, he felt around and identified the parts of the baby I could feel but had no idea what they were. He felt the head first and I was happy to hear it is still down. Next he let me feel where the thigh was and the butt. The baby was resting in a C shape with the butt leaning more toward my left side, and the thigh and leg pointed toward my right. By finding the position, the doctor knew exactly where to put the doppler and picked up the heartbeat immediately. It was still steady in the 130's, as it has been the last 3 appointments. The doctor already said this seems like a very good baby. Let's hope this keeps up!

My remaining doctor appointments will be as follows: 4 weeks, 2, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1. Baby (hopefully)!

Here are my latest belly shots. My waist has expanded, and now measures 37.5 inches about an inch or two below my belly button. I noticed from the front view, it looks extremely round!
To illustrate my point about carrying low, here is where my belly button is. The "peak" is a little below it:

Here are couple more pictures of me with some Chinese friends, taken back on Friday at International Friendships were we watched the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The girl next to me is named Ni Song, and her son Matthew is about 2.5 months old. He is so cute, and was born with all that hair! The next picture of us includes our good friend Lei who stayed at our home for awhile when she first arrived in the States. I noticed in these pictures my belly is really starting to look plump!

Finally, I learned something very interesting today. Did you know car seats expire? I did not know this, but researched the topic and found they are generally good only 6 years unless the manufacturer says otherwise. After 6 years, you are supposed to destroy them even if they look perfectly good (you are supposed to cut the straps, tear the seats, etc so no one picks it up thinking it is still safe). The reason is, the plastic can become brittle or unsafe after being in the sun and heat. There could also be other problems or wear that cannot be seen, that could cause the seat to fail if there was an accident. It makes sense. Both tires and running shoes can both break down over time and become unsafe even if they appear new or only slightly worn. The one Matt and Kelly gave us is now almost 5 years old. It is safe for us to use for this baby, but molded into the plastic on the bottom it says do not use after December 2009. We decided now it makes the most sense to go ahead and register for a new one since we plan to have another child within the next 6 years. For convenience, we are still going to use the older seat just for this baby in our second car we only drive around town.