32 weeks

How Far Along: 32 weeks today. E2 should weigh approximately 3-3/4 pounds (apparently the weight of a large jicama...again, never held one!). However...yesterday's ultrasound revealed a real whopper of a child...he's not even CLOSE to the weight of a jicama.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: According to my scale, I'm up another 2 pounds. According to Dr. M.'s scale, I'm up 34 pounds total since 16 weeks...which would mean about 42 pounds since pre-pregnancy weight. I don't look it, I swear! (I don't really feel it, either.) I asked Dr. M., "Are you concerned about my weight gain, because I sure am?" He thinks it's mostly water weight. God, I hope he's right!

Maternity Clothes: Yes. In fact, after an uncharacteristic early May heat wave and accompanying clothing crisis, I now have a few more tops and bottoms (work appropriate!) to choose from, plus a pair of cheap shoes and two pairs of flip flops to (sort of) accomodate my ridiculously swollen ankles and feet.

Movement: Movin' and groovin'! E2 still gets the hiccups several times a day. He's been poking something "hard" out above my belly button for several days. It turns out he's currently breech, and what I feel is his left shoulder. Now I can't stop rubbing it!

Sleep: Ok.

Gender: A baby brother for Aliya and Bennett.

Symptoms: All the same, but boy howdy, the cankles have taken it to a whole new level. I haven't seen the bones on the insides of my ankles since Thursday evening. No joke. We traveled 3.5 hours over the mountains to Yakima (Eastern WA) on Friday night and the swelling hasn't gone away since. I was on my feet in the heat most of Saturday, and I swear to you my lower legs, ankles and feet looked like they belonged to someone else's body. They certainly weren't my scrawny calves and skinny ass feet! Nope...those are gone, gone, gone. I normally wear a size 10.5 narrow shoe. Yesterday I bought a pair of size 11 medium ballet flats, and they don't even accomodate the cankles. Actually, after wearing them only an hour and ten minutes this morning, I already had deep shoe grooves under my (non-existent) inner ankle bones. I may spend the rest of this pregnancy in flip flops. Work-appropriate wear be damned!

Cravings: Still none.

Belly Button In or Out: Still mostly in. The "outiness" seems to depend on E2's position in there.

Freak-out of the Week: None. Lots of tears again, though. While in Yakima, a fellow member of the board I sit on presented Paul and me with a beautiful handmade white and green baby blanket, and I couldn't stop the tears. Then Sunday, I happened to look out the window nearest the front door and noticed a package on the front porch. I opened it and inside was a beautiful handmade quilt from a fellow cow enthusiast from Wisconsin - someone I only know a little bit online - with a note. The quilt is called "Rainbow on Green Pasture" and it's gorgeous. Again, the tears...sobbing in my kitchen, clutching this piece of love and art to my chest. I am still so touched that these lovely women care so much that they'd spend the time to make these for us!

Looking Forward To: We hit Dr. M.'s milestone (32 weeks!), so he's happy! Our next one is 34 weeks, because that will entitle us to deliver at Providence St. Peter Hospital, where the twins were born (and which only has a Level II NICU and can't handle babies younger than 34 weeks).

Next Appointment: This Thursday, May 9th for my first non-stress test, and next Thursday, May 16th for another growth scan.

Miscellaneous: This week's OB appointment went well. I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately, nor did I really get any good looks at E2's face. I think that's because Dr. M. knows I'll get some good views (and photos) from University of Washington next week at our growth scan. As I mentioned, baby is currently breech, with his head in my upper left uterus, spine curling down the left side, little butt (as of yesterday, anyway) sitting right on top of my (still long and closed, 4.2 cm!!) cervix, and then his knees up in my upper right uterus. Funny moment of the appointment (which ran, not so funnily, extremely late due to Dr. M.'s tardiness and then futzing around with the generator guy): During my transvaginal ultrasound to measure my cervix, I noticed what looked to be a distinctive outline above my cervix, and asked, "Is that the baby's bottom?!" Dr. M. said, "Oh, look at the little baby butt cheeks!" (Kiddo was literally sitting on top of my cervix, butt crack and all!)

As for Dr. M.'s unofficial growth ultrasound, E2 is ginormous. According to the ultrasound machine's measurements, he is now averaging 35w5d gestation (that's a gain of a week from our last growth scan), with a head measuring 2.5 weeks ahead and an abdomen measuring 3+ weeks ahead. By the machine's calculations, my big belly is big because this child already weighs 5 pounds 5 ounces. Holy pelvic cringe, Batman! Dr. M. whipped out his (probably 1980s) California Sea Level Chart, which is a growth chart thingy (with pencil marks all over it) showing average growth curves by gestational age and weight for 10%, 50% and >90% growth. While the ultrasound machine spit out that baby's 2511 gram weight is >90% (which would be consistent with our 28 week growth scan at UW), Dr. M.'s fancy chart says only 60%. So. Huh. He had said earlier in the appointment that he was going to write me a script for a home blood glucose monitor and test strips, but based on the discrepancy between modern scientific equipment and his folded paper chart, he opted not to. We'll see what UW comes up with next week for E2's weight and size...and whether or not that causes Dr. C. to go ahead and order the monitor and strips for me anyway. Ultimately, we do not want to be derailed by untreated gestational diabetes and have to deal with a 10+ pound baby, so whatever...but I really do hope that, between Dr. M. and Dr. C., someone can assure me that E2's growth is normal and won't result in induction or c-section due to a kid too big for me to deliver vaginally.

The belly at 32 weeks (in a new shirt!).