Third ultrasound and first non-stress test!

Once again, I know it has been too long :/  Work has been very busy recently (3 work trips, many presentations, one grant proposal)...BUT good news is that things are getting back to normal and work isn't quite as crazy as it was over the past month.  I'm very happy about that - it was a little much for a while there, and I was worried about being too stressed for the baby!

So this will be an update for the last few weeks!  We had our third ultrasound on October 1st - this ultrasound was a growth scan, just to see how the baby is growing and making sure she is right on track.  Luckily, everything looks great once again and she weighs about 2 pounds (on the 1st that is when I was about 26 weeks) - which is right in the 45th percentile - they were very happy to see this! :)  Here are a few pictures from the ultrasound!!  Btw - even though it was confirmed during the ultrasound that it is definitely a girl (we got a great bottom up shot!), I need to clarify why these scans say "Blue" at the top!  Haha - hope that was just them hitting the wrong button!

Side profile shot!  Our good little Catholic girl looks like she already knows how to do the sign of the cross :)

Ahh!!  Front of the face! :)  Haha - these are always slightly creepy (the U/S technician moved the scanner and this is the image that popped right up on the screen...it was pretty funny)

Profile shot again - her cute little hand is up :)

Other few things that came up at the appointment on the 1st - remember that post I did a few weeks back that said "time to fatten me up?".  Well, I made it a point to make sure I was eating one more carb at lunch and dinner to hopefully start gaining weight.  They had to increase my insulin a couple of times because of this (I am now on 5 shots a day and the # of units I take keep going up too - which is expected).  BUT - at my appointment on the 1st, I definitely gained weight.  Try FIVE POUNDS in TWO WEEKS.  Haha...I was a little shocked to see that much weight gain, but at least it was in the right direction!  The good news is, the doctor wasn't too concerned and was happy I was at least gaining and not losing weight.  Other good news - luckily that amount of weight gain didn't keep up - at my next appointment on the 10th, I only gained half a pound in 10 days - much better :)  

Starting on the 10th, I am now on weekly appointments at the doctor - doing a non-stress test and appointment with the doctor at every appointment.  Then starting in early November, I will start TWICE a week (phew, lots of doctors appointments coming up!).  At the twice-weekly appointments we will have an ultrasound, non-stress test, and appointment every Monday and then a non-stress test and appointment every Thursday. 

I went in for the first non-stress test (NST) on October 10th and boy did I LOVE it!!!  For those that haven't had a NST, what it is is a 30-minute or so test where they hook you up to a monitor tracking the baby's heartbeat, movement, and mom's contractions.  I also have to press a button every time I feel her move too (so they can track how much I feel her move vs. what she is actually doing).  After they see the baby's heartbeat raise at least 10-20 bpm for 10 seconds twice, the NST is over!

I loved it so much because I get to sit there for 30 minutes just listening to her heartbeat - and hearing/seeing her move that whole time.  I don't know what it was (the ice water?  the monitors?), but she was moving around like crazy during the test - more than I have ever felt her move before!  The monitors kept moving up and down on my belly.  Usually it's just a snapshot of her heartbeat that we get to hear, so it was so nice to sit there for 30 minutes and just listen to her.  I can't wait for Ben to go with me to a NST - I think he'll love it too! :)  

And we got great results from the first NST - she looked healthy and passed the test! :)  I was not contracting yet, which was fun to find out because I didn't think I was, but sometimes they are so subtle I may not be feeling them.

It's hard to believe I started my THIRD TRIMESTER on Thursday!  That means we are 11 weeks at the most away from meeting Annie...only 77 days!!  Wow - that's crazy!  We are making pretty good progress on the nursery too, which feels great.  We are almost ready to paint - we've ordered some furniture, but almost to the point where we will be putting some of that together too.  We have the bargain white dresser we need to spruce up - I just ordered handles today and Ben is going to try to match the paint sometime this week!

I am now 28 weeks and 3 days, 28 week picture coming soon! :)