March 8

We have a date. We now know that this baby will come on or before March 8.

My appointment for last Friday didn't happen because of the snow, and my doctor wanted we me go ahead and come in today for my 36-week appointment and sonogram. The main reason why my doctor didn't want me to wait until my appointment Friday is because of my history of miscarriages, which means this pregnancy is a little higher risk. She said that doctors aren't sure why but there is a correlation between a history of miscarriages and stillbirths at or after 40 weeks gestation. As a result, she doesn't want me to get to 40 weeks. Instead, if I haven't had the baby by March 8 (39 weeks, 1 day), I will go in that day for an induction.

Everything looked good on the sonogram. The baby's head measured big (38 weeks), but everything else was just fine. Based on estimates, he is measuring 36 weeks, 3 days (one day ahead),is 6 pounds, 3 ounces, and is in the 44th percentile for weight. Hopefully he'll be right around Mara's size if the measurements are correct because she was 6 pounds at my 36-week appointment with her and was 7 pounds, 15 ounces when she was born the day before her due date.

The baby did a good job letting the technician get his measurements, but he didn't really want to give us good shots. The technician wanted to make sure we got something from the visit, so we ended up with a couple of pictures of his foot, his spine, and his hand in front of his face. (His face is to the right of his hand in the top picture.) She also gave us a capture of his heart rate, which was 158 beats per minute.

There was one little thing wrong. One of the baby's kidneys is slightly enlarged, but that doesn't mean too much. Just that a valve might not be functioning quite like it should. They'll perform a sonogram after the baby's born while we're still in the hospital, but these things usually resolve themselves.

Also because of my history, I will be getting a sonogram at each of my appointments from now on, so I should have more pictures to share next Tuesday. Hopefully he'll cooperate a little better for us then. :)