16-Week Appointment

Holy cow, time is flying by! I couldn't believe it was already time for my next appointment this morning! Wowsers!

Appointment went great. Baby's heart rate was 153, so slightly lower than it's been (161 and 167, respectively), but according to the old wives tale, it still seems likely to be a girl, despite the lack of scientific basis of the theory :) I'll take what reassurance I can get! My fundal height (measurement from the pubic bone to the top of the uterus) is at 16cm, so right on target, giving less credit to those 'twins' comments ;0) I've gained a total of 4.6lbs (now is NOT the time to round up!), apparently mainly in the past two weeks, so while completely bummed out (I may have even shed a tear on the scale, but I was feeling emotional and hungry this morning), the doc is proud and says I'm on the low side of normal, which beats the crap out of being on the high side. I keep telling him I refuse to pull a 'Kate Hudson' and gain 70lbs for my ONE baby. He just laughs. Have I mentioned I love Dr. R, lately? He's fantastic.

My blood pressure was 99/60, which is great, so no signs of any pre-eclampsia at this point, though that typically rears it's head later on. It still can present with elevated blood pressure at the beginning, though, so I'm lucky it's stayed low. The only time it was remotely high was before my NT screening, when it was 120/80, and I was feeling a bit stressed at that point, so that makes sense.

They also did the AFP (alpha-feta protein or something close to that) draw today to check for signs of neural tube defects, namely spina bifida. Those results will be back on Monday. Dr. R was QUITE pleased with my NT screening results, as am I, so crossing my fingers on these results, and then that will be it for screening tests and blood draws for potential problems. My 20-week appointment is scheduled for August 13th, and if (God forbid) wee one doesn't cooperate for the gender ultrasound in 12 DAYS (!!), we'll find out then instead. They also plan on doing a 24-week ultrasound to make sure I'm not showing signs of cervical incompetence, since I had to undergo surgery a couple times before, which is a risk factor. I'm trying to have faith that all the u/s's will look great and put us in the clear, and basking in the thought of seeing our baby three times between the end of this month and mid-September. My mom is coming out in September also, and my 24-week appointment is slotted for that week, so I'm hoping she'll get to come and see baby!!! How exciting!!!!!!!