Thirty-Three Weeks (and some change!)

So...I wanted to post about my surprise birthday party after I posted about my birthday. But, then I had to wait until my surprise party actually happened, which wasn't until the weekend after my birthday. Then I decided that I would wait until I had a few pictures from the party to post as well. I have yet to see any pictures because only one person there was actually taking any pictures and she hasn't sent any of them to me yet. And now, it's two weeks later and I figure I should just move on to something else. But, let it be known that I did have a surprise 30th birthday party/baby shower and it was so humbling and awesome in everyway (even though I technically knew about it beforehand).

Now, moving on...pregnancy updates! The last one was at, what? 26 weeks or so? That was like 10 pounds and a full maternity clothing size ago. Behold the belly last week:


I am large. So large that at my doctor's appointment last week, I measured 36cm, which was about 3 weeks ahead of where I needed to be (not to mention in 4 weeks, I grew from 28cm to 36cm). And if you know me, or have been reading this blog since the Jayla pregnancy, you know that large measurements is what helped us discover that Jayla had an issue. Now granted, Jayla had a very rare issue that makes it just super unrealistic that I would have two children with the same issue. But, when everything is seemingly playing out the exact same way, it's difficult to not let your mind wonder to what is almost statistically impossible.

So, we had another ultrasound on Thursday with the high-risk doctor that suggested that Jayla be delivered "as soon as possible" when I was just 35 weeks pregnant with her. The doctor was even nicer than I remembered her (maybe because she was delivering bad news the last and only time I've ever seen her?) but, before we got started with the ultrasound, she wanted to hear everything about how Jayla's story turned out.

She started the ultrasound with routine measurements and estimated the baby to be about 4lbs + 11oz, which is 45th percentile at this point. She continued to look around, commenting that the baby is still a girl and has lots of hair like Jayla. And although I was generally at peace with the situation by then, I breathed an extra sigh of relief when she uttered, "This baby is perfect. Absolutely beautiful." She also took a special look at the bowels just to make sure that we weren't in for similar issues and there was no sign of blockage.

And so it looks like we're back on track for an April 22nd delivery. It hurts so badly to walk and lay horizontal these days and yet, I'm so not ready for her to come yet. If nothing else, I keep thinking that she will want a name at some point in her life. The husband now calls her "Spare Jayla" and that's as close as we've gotten to naming her...