Baby Update

We only have 5.5 weeks until our due date & we are both so very anxious to meet our little princess!! I went for my 34 week appointment yesterday, and everything looked great for the most part--baby is measuring right on schedule--except our little munchkin's heart rate was a little lower than we wanted it to be yesterday so my doctor sent me to the hospital today to have a non-stress test done just to check the baby out and make sure everything is okay. Unfortunately Dar was at work but it was nice for me to be able to see our sweet baby girl on the ultrasound again, although it wasn't a very good look at her like our last ultrasound since the nurse was mostly checking to make sure I have sufficient amniotic fluid. I was a little bummed that we didn't get any pictures this time but it was nice to get a 2nd confirmation that we are definitely having a girl! And I seriously loved getting to listen to her little heartbeat for over 1/2 hour straight. I got to see her little diaphragm moving like it should be, and it was especially comforting to get the reassurance that everything is okay. Her "low" heart rate isn't something we need to be concerned about because apparently her resting heart rate is just on the lower end of "normal" and everything looked good. Now we just play the waiting & nesting game for the next few weeks until we get to meet our long awaited addition!

For the most part I'm still feeling pretty good. Moving around is becoming more of a challenge as my tummy takes charge & I do have aches and pains, but luckily not all the time. I really feel like I can't complain, especially when I think about friends who have had much harder pregnancies than this one has been. People are so nice when they tell me I look small for being as far along as I am, but I honestly feel HUGE and we still have more than a month of growing to do!! I'm still having braxton hicks contractions occasionally (they started about a month ago) but nothing consistent, although they are getting stronger than they were when I first started feeling them. And, overall I'm just expecting our sweet baby girl to come after our due date, just so I'm not disappointed if she doesn't come on or before. Her bedroom is just about set up, although we may not finish it until after she's born since she'll be sleeping in a bassinet in our room for the first little while. But I guess to sum it all up, we can't wait to meet her!! To kiss her little hands and cheeks, to see her beautiful eyes and know that she is ours. To feel like our family is even more complete. We already feel so blessed to have this little one in our family, even if we haven't had the chance to meet and hold her just yet.