the pregnancy diaries: week 35

wait, what?! that means like 5 more weeks...or less if i am like my mom and erin.  that is so close!!  we are so excited!

updates with baby hopper & i:
* i've been a bit stressed about this chica the last couple of weeks...or months.  she has been measuring very small at our doctor's office with the ultrasound equipment there.  in january, she was in the 5th percentile, so we were sent to maternal fetal medicine with a perinatologist for an ultrasound at the hospital.  their equipment is better and more detailed there.  she measured in the 24th percentile then and we were happy, although doc wanted to do follow up ultrasounds on her.  she continued to measure small and about a week and a half ago she was in the 11th percentile with her belly in the 3rd and head in the 4th.  that was a bit concerning, especially since her femur was the 46th.  we had our first non-stress test right after and we passed with flying colors...or a healthy baby. 
at our appointment last monday, the doctor told me that my chances of being induced early increased, therefore increasing my chances of a c-section to about 80% {if i wasn't progressing after being induced}.  small babies just don't do well in labor, plus pitocin {what they use to induce} can cause fetal heart rate to drop.  this also will foil my plan of a natural birth, but hey, i will do anything for this baby to be healthy.  naturally, i was stressing a ton on monday.  we had another non-stress test right there in the office after our appointment.  again, everything came back healthy and fine.  baby girl wasn't loving it too much because she kept kicking the monitors!
i asked if i could continue to work out {i ask him all the time--exercising during pregnancy, as long as you keep your heart rate in a good range, is good for you and the baby, so i have been given the "go ahead" every time}, this time it was a "ehhh, probably not a great idea.  i'm not going to put you on bed rest, but take it easy."  but! i asked if i can walk {yes}, and do non-power yoga {yes} and lift light weights {yes--light}.
the doctor also sent us back over to maternal fetal medicine for another look there.  we went on thursday {just hours after finn was born!} and everything looked great!  she was in the 38th percentile!  coincidentally, as we were walking up to the women's center right after to see erin, mike, & finn, our doctor was leaving after delivering a baby.  he rolled down his window and looked at us like, "uh, is there something i should know about?!"  we told him we were there to see my sister, but that we had just had our ultrasound.  he was happy with the "high" percentile she was in.  we go for an appointment tomorrow where we will get to talk about what this actually means now.  continuing with weekly non-stress tests? weekly ultrasounds? i don't know!

*she is still moving around a ton, which is a good sign!  our doctor and perinatologist always ask that and said healthy babies move around a lot.  that was comforting!

*what isn't comforting is the fact that she continues to go up in my grills!  grills as in ribs, not gangsta grills fo' yo' teef.  this is especially uncomfortable when you are sitting for 3 hours in church, or driving in the car for over an hour {or 10 minutes, really}.

*i think my muscles are losing all strength, if they hadn't already.  my quads are eternally fatigued.  i guess it's the extra weight from the watermelon i keep stuffed up my shirt.

*my coworkers threw a cute shower for me on wednesday.  i think we are nearly set with baby things! plus, our swing and carseat arrived.  we are just waiting on that rocker to get in sometime this week.  i also need to stock up on all of my wonderful mama necessities.  so excited for that stuff...not.

*i am getting very anxious for our little girl to make her debut.  it could be as early as 3 weeks, or it could be like 6.  either way, it is coming so soon!!

looking so incredibly happy and relaxed, if you can be after being told that there could be something wrong with the placenta and the baby might need to come out early.

and another photo of baby finn and i.  he is just too precious.