"Medium-Large or Large-Large"

Oh, relief! Well, at least a little for now! We just had our appointment with our regular doctor this afternoon. Baby Peanut looks great!! But, "it" doesn't really look like a peanut anymore! Our baby is growing so fast. What a cliche, huh? I have a feeling we'll be saying that for at least the next 18 years. :) Today, I am technically 15 weeks & 5 days. According to the measurements, we are 17 weeks and 2 days (body) or 16 weeks & 4 days (head circumference). In the words of our doctor, we are going to have a "medium-large or large-large baby instead of a medium-small, small-small baby." Yes, that's a quote...Brad and I both had a good laugh over that! I have to admit, I am a little shocked that I'm going to possibly have a larger baby considering I was a mere 3 pounds, 15 oz! OR...could it be that I have been right all along and my due date is actually earlier!?!? I still think I'm right on that one!! The heartbeat was 155 today and everything else seemed to look good. I still have placenta previa, but he thinks it should be gone by our next appointment. It is getting better. Let's hope so! The doctor was also happy that my weight has remained steady and that I haven't really gained any weight (within 1-2 lbs). I sure feel like and probably look it in the pictures, but I like to call it a "redistribution of weight!"

Now, if you know me at all, you know I stand up for what I believe in and you never have to wonder what I'm thinking! Well, I felt the need to express my concern about our previous appointment today so I did. The nurse was able to explain things much better than the doctor ever did. We are still going to go to Omaha next Tuesday. So, please keep the prayers coming!! We will first see a genetic counselor who will assess our risk of having a child (this one or future) with birth defects based on family history. We will then see a perinatologist. This will be our doctor should I have pregnancy complications of any kind or go early and cannot deliver in Carroll. So, he is not just a genetic doctor. If only they would have explained all of this at our last appointment. Anyway, our nurse said it should be a pretty informative appointment so we have decided to go forward with it. However, we did decline the blood test for downs syndrome today. We are going to love this child no matter what and feel that if there is a true concern, we will likely find that out next week. Further, we do not want to do an amniocentesis so we did not see the point in doing the blood test, especially with the chance of false positives. This is simply a decision that Brad and I have made together and were thankful that we were at least given a chance to make that decision for ourselves today. This obviously does not eliminate our concern of not having a healthy baby. Of course, we want the best for it! I'm hopeful that our appointment next week will go well and be beneficial for all of us. Again, prayers are great!

Until next time, we love you all and thank you for all your support!!
Kari

P.S. Here are a couple pics of my baby bump! :) Yes, I know my face looks scary in the second one...yikes!