the good news is that i'm feeling great and all is well with the baby. he's estimated to weigh 1 pound, 14 ounces (64th percentile) and seems happy and active. i can feel him moving all the time and he looks adorable in the ultrasound pics, when he'll show his face.
the maybe not-so-good news is that when i went in to see the high risk doc this morning, they found that my cervix seems to be effacing. for those not in the pregnancy know, that means it's shortening -- which it's not supposed to do until just before birth. normally, when you're not pregnant, the cervix is open a bit to allow things to pass through. but during pregnancy, it stays tight and closed to keep the baby in, and develops a mucus plug to make sure nothing gets in or out before it's supposed to.
the last time i was at the doc (two weeks ago) the closed part of my cervix measured 37 mm, which is about in the middle of the normal range of 3 - 5 cm. but today it only measured 33 mm, which alarmed them a little. the doctor told me they don't like to see it shorter than 35mm, but that 25 is the real danger zone. he said it could just be a fluke and maybe caused by traveling, or the fact that the baby still likes to sit real low, putting a lot of pressure on my cervix. in this case it could get better, or at least not get any worse. he said that happens with a lot of women. he wants me to take it easy for a week and go back to see him then, when they'll measure it and see if this shortening is a trend that will likely continue, or if things are holding stable at 33mm (in the latter case, they'll just continue to monitor it and won't worry). he was glad to hear i am on summer vacation; he said if i was working he wouldn't want me to go in for a week! egads. but there's nothing stopping me from doing mostly nothing for the next seven days, so that's my plan.
you may be wondering what will happen if it seems that my cervix is still effacing when i go back next week. i sure was. he said the first step will be medication (steroids) and possibly bed rest. the steroids can stop preterm labor and also help the baby's lungs to develop faster just in case the little guy ends up arriving early. bed rest will depend on how bad it is. and if that doesn't work (which the doc tells me is unlikely in most cases) they will have to do a surgical procedure to basically tie the cervix shut. this is called a cerclage and i really, really hope it doesn't come to that. but i like having all the information, so at least i know the worst case scenario.
so. that's where we're at. i'm not over-thinking anything and just hoping that a week of r&r, which was already in my plans post-school year and post-vacation, will do the trick and everything will be a-ok. this is not to say i'm not worried as heck, because i am. but there's not much i can do other than follow the doctor's orders. and, of course, be thankful that i'm getting the monitoring that i am so that this didn't go unseen!
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