At my appointment 2 weeks ago, the nurse practitioner told me that I was “measuring 2cm small.” This means that the height of my uterus is shorter than expected, and each cm small = approximately 1 week potentially behind development. This isn’t a huge thing. I could just be small and growing a small but perfectly okay baby. But she scheduled an ultrasound for my next appointment just in case. That ultrasound was today.
The ultrasound tech was in a rush today–completely booked and on a tight schedule, so there wasn’t a lot of watching baby moving around. I got a bunch of blurred snapshots that are supposedly all of Print Nugget’s face, although you can’t really see what’s going on in most of them. It was yawning and perhaps picking its nose, from what I can tell. It does have a little halo of hair, though, so perhaps it’s a muppet, like we always hoped.
In any case, the baby is small. It’s just under 5 lbs (this measurement could be off a 1 lb. or so in either direction). In the beginning, baby’s size was in the 21st percentile for growth. Now it’s in the 11th. Anytime it drops below the 15th, they like to keep an eye on things. The good news is: my placenta is giant and healthy, and the baby has plenty of amniotic fluid around it. Print Nugget is small, but everything is perfectly proportioned as it should be.
If the parts weren’t proportional to the whole or if there looked like there were problems with the placenta, then the Dr. would be worried. We’re going to have another ultrasound to measure growth in 2 weeks. If everything is still small but fine, then she’s not going to worry about it anymore and we’ll just assume we’re making a small baby, which I’m fine with. At this rate, it’ll probably reach 6-7lbs. around delivery time.
If baby’s growth slows down more for some reason or if the placenta looks unhealthy in 2 weeks, then we’ll have to start talking about inducing because Doctors generally seem to think babies grow faster outside of the womb than in it. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Inducing sounds like no fun.
On a side note, I wanted to say how completely overwhelmed with how generous you all have been in sending us gifts and notes for our invisible baby shower! I want to say more about this, but I don’t quite know what to say except that I feel loved and excited about what’s to come. I feel more prepared and less lack a slacker mom somehow. I started organizing things around the house more for Print Nugget today. It’s a strange sensation to be organizing things for a little person that isn’t here yet. I feel almost like a mysterious but much loved house guest is coming–someone whom we know nothing about and simultaneously are completely tied/connected to.
We’ll be writing to you all soon and will also send you a birth announcement! If any of the rest of y’all are interested in a birth announcement, please just make sure to let me know by emailing me your address: hannah.march.sandersATgmailDOTcom. We enjoy sharing our news and pics with you all!