checking in

Today I had my follow-up appointment to see if I'm still measuring ahead of schedule. I am, but not by much. Two weeks ago I measured at 30 weeks and today I measured at 30.5 weeks. Still ahead (I'm just shy of 29 weeks) but nothing alarming. The midwife also said that I don't appear to have excess amniotic fluid. I'm scheduled for an ultrasound on Monday just to double check fluid and Baby Z's size, but I have been assured that there is no reason to worry. Perhaps I'll even come out of the deal with some new pictures of our baby girl!

During my check up, the midwife confirmed what I've been suspecting for a while now- our baby girl is positioned head down, which seems to be the cause of all of the pressure on my pelvic bone when I sit for long periods of time. Ok, scratch that - when I sit for periods longer than, oh, about 5 minutes. Baby Girl is also big enough that I can feel her moving in two places at once instead of the single kicks or rolls I have been feeling up until now. Yesterday I was in a meeting and I could feel her wigglilng lower down in my belly and up by my ribs at the same time. Crazy!

In other good news, I got an H1N1 vaccine last night. I am so relieved. The best part is that my getting the vaccine will protect our baby for the first 3 months of her life. She'll be born smack in the middle of flu season but will be too young to get the vaccine, so I am very happy that she'll be protected now, too. Ed got the vaccine because of his work at the University, so now our whole household can relax knowing that we've all been vaccinated against both the seasonal and the more "trendy" flu viruses.

Tomorrow I'm heading out of town for part 2 of the training I started last week. This week I won't be spending the night but will instead be getting up well before the crack of dawn to make the drive. Lately it seems that I could fall asleep almost anywhere at any time of day. This baby girl is taking it out of me lately! No matter how much sleep I get, I'm still exhausted. The goal is early to bed the next few nights so that I'll be bright-eyed for all of the driving ahead of me.