Twenty-Six / Ninety-Seven

First of all, let me reiterate how I detest posting profile pictures of myself. Were it not for my need to please my far-away friends and family, you'd just have to imagine what my changing body looks like (like it just woke up).

I reached a couple of personal pregnancy milestones this week: I reached twenty-six weeks of pregnancy (my personal magic number), and I moved on to a double-digit pregnancy countdown. I have only ninety-seven days to go if I'm allowed to be pregnant all the way to my due date, which is actually quite improbable. (I probably only have 75-85 days left.)

I saw my MFM for my regular monthly check-up today. At the appointment, he confirmed that my cervix is still stable and that there was no evidence of an internal bleed. With that good news, he removed the precautionary restrictions imposed by the on-call OB at my little hospital visit on Sunday. Regarding my cervix, the doctor said since I've not had any adverse symptoms throughout the entire pregnancy, and since I'm now at 26 weeks, my overall cervical length is now less of a concern. He said with this transabdominal cerclage, once we successfully pass 24 weeks without any cervical issues, we're really in the clear -- if there were going to be a change, it would have happened by 24 weeks. The primary focus now is keeping preterm labor at bay, and so far, the once-weekly progesterone injections are doing the trick.

The baby weighed in at 2 pounds 10 ounces, and based primarily on femur length, is the same size as a baby at 28 weeks gestation (two weeks ahead of where I am in this pregnancy). I've been telling James she feels so much bigger, like a big lump in my stomach, and when she kicks now, you can see strong movement from the outside. He was skeptical since her weight was around 1 pound 5 ounces only one month ago, but to our great surprise, she's doubled in size. She's positioned head down and curled up in a ball.

As for her rapid growth, we're not extraordinarily concerned. James and I are both very tall people who come from very tall families, so this baby's long femur length is probably related to our genetic makeup. (Even Gracie was the size of a full-term baby when she was born four weeks prematurely, and now at six-years-old wears clothes cut for a tall ten-year-old.) Still, the doctor wants to see me again in three weeks to monitor and remeasure the baby, and wants me to begin watching my sugar/carbohydrate intake to help slow things down growth-wise. I'm scheduled to take the test for gestational diabetes in two weeks, but regardless of the outcome, I'm still supposed to watch my sugars and carbs (which is why I suddenly feel the need to engorge myself on watermelon, Junior Mints, and chicken-flavored Cuppa Soup).

Baby Face

Tummy on left, Face Forward on right, Hand up top by face