Commencement! (Finally)

I know it's been quite a while since my last post, but we have been utterly swamped at work. I'm not complaining; we were slow over the summer and into October to the point of anxiousness. We've had lulls before, for about two week stretches, but never for several months. I doubt I'll ever complain about being busy again - it's just a fact at this point. So our flurry of activity has kept me from keeping up with your activities and keeping you up to date on my own. Without further ado, the good news:

My cervix has graduated. Throughout the testing and biweekly monitoring, my doctors are satisfied that it's not going to do anything inappropriate. We are quite relieved on that front - it's a good thing.

On December 27th, they performed another Doppler and found that my right uterine arteries have still not quite stepped up to the plate. Our chipmunk measured very well (picture is posted below), and in fact measured 4 days ahead, so thus far intrauterine growth restriction isn't a concern. We will go back to the perinatal center on Tuesday for another Bee check to see how his size is coming along. I'm still not very big (at the onset of my 7th month), which of course makes me a bit nervous that growth restriction will be a problem. It doesn't help that people keep commenting that "Wow! You're really carrying small!" Depending on how the scan goes on Tuesday, I will either welcome these comments, or want to smack people in their foreheads. We shall see, but I am hopeful.

We had our orientation at the hospital today, which was neat and exciting, now that we get to do this "for real". Mr. Right hates hospitals, so he's trying to use this experience to associate good things with hospitals so he won't dislike them so much. I've always liked hospitals, because to me they were the places where they fixed things (like my dad's heart, my arm, etc.). I wonder what is will be like to actually give birth to a child... I know we're supposed to work on our birth plans; ultimately, all I really want is a healthy child and healthy mom. Everything else is just a bonus.

I'll be 29 weeks on Monday, and it still surprises me that I am actually carrying a wee child under my heart. Even with the swollen ankles, puffy feet, maternity jeans, clear skin, and occasional kicks in the cervix. When the Bee does that, I usually ask him to move a bit and kick somewhere else if he feels like stretching out. He always does, and I tell him how appreciative I am of that. Makes me feel good that we're off to a nice start. He'll likely be an Aires, so I'm sure we'll have our hands full. At this point, I am so grateful to have gotten even this far that I won't mind that a bit. So Bee, kick away. But just keep in mind if it gets painful, I'll ask you to shift just a little and kick me somewhere a little less sensitive.

I promise to check in on you all and see what's going on in your lives, and input whenever appropriate. I hope you're all well. : )