The countdown has officially begun. It's looking like Bumble will be here in about 7 weeks. Wow.
We had a good appointment yesterday afternoon. We were expecting to see Dr. Love for our ultrasound, but he was off for the day, so we saw the other perinatologist instead. I really, really liked her - she was extremely thorough and talked us through each of the ultrasound images. While I know that both doctors are equally knowledgeable and capable, the doctor we saw yesterday was more verbal about her observations, and I really appreciated that.
So, here's the report:
My placenta hasn't moved much (if at all) since the last appointment two weeks ago. It's still completely covering my cervix and has actually attached itself down into the cervix some. The doctor is fairly certain (like 99.9%) that we're looking at a c-section. They also checked my cervix again, and it is actually .1 cm longer than it was two weeks ago. We'll proceed with ultrasounds every two weeks to monitor things. At our next appointment, they'll check my cervix, the baby's fluid, and my placenta. At the following appointment, they'll do additional measurements on little Bumble. The doctor explained that because of the risk of hemorrhage, they really want to avoid me going into labor or dilating at all. She thought that the best course of action would be to do an amnio at 36 weeks to check on Bumble's lung development. Because of the (slight) risk of starting labor or rupturing my bag of waters, we would stay overnight at the hospital following the procedure. If the test shows that Bumble's lungs are developed, they'll do the c-section the next day. If not, they'll wait until 37 weeks and do the c-section then.
Bumble is looking good. Her head is down by my right hip and I've been feeling lots of kicks in my ribs and pokes on my bladder and hips. I find it a bit funny that they were originally concerned about her being underweight, considering that Bumble weighs about 3 lbs, 5oz right now, putting her in the 75th - 80th percentile for weight for babies of her gestational age. I laughed out loud last night when my pregnancy ticker informed me that the baby has passed the 2 lb mark. All measurements showed that she's about a week ahead and her legs look to be long - which shouldn't be a surprise since her papa is 6'4".
So, for the most part, I'm feeling really good about things. A bit more frantic to get everything done, but also more at peace feeling like I know how we're going to proceed and that I can begin to make a plan to ensure that I have as much control over the birthing process as possible.
After waking up at 5:30 am this morning and not being able to fall asleep (thanks, puppy), I watched The Business of Being Born and sobbed just about through the whole thing. It really brought up a lot of emotion for me around what I always thought my birth would be like versus how things are turning out. I'm feeling too muddled to write about it now, but I know I'll be doing some serious journaling later.
Seven weeks, people. Seven weeks.