When I arrived, I was weighed by a nurse and my blood pressure was taken before it was time to listen to our baby’s heartbeat. Apparently our little one’s heartbeat was lower than normal (averaging 115 – 120 bpm). Another nurse came in to listen to the heartbeat and then the doctor came in after that to listen and told me they wanted to hook me up to a monitor for a while just to see how everything was going.
I was told to hit a button every time I felt our baby move while relaxing in a recliner. I flipped on the TV in the private room to try to distract myself, but my mind was all over the place and I ended up texting back and forth with Ryan, my mom and sister the whole time to keep them up to speed. About 15 minutes into this, a nurse came in and told me they wanted to observe me for a little while longer, so I stayed in the chair and prayed for everything to be okay.
I was then escorted into a private waiting room until my doctor was able to meet with me again. She said that the baby’s heart rate was low (120-ish), but all the movement I felt while I was being monitored made her think our baby was likely just relaxing and perfectly fine in my belly. We started to continue on with my routine appointment and when my doctor measured my belly, she said I am measuring small. My measurements didn’t show any belly growth since 32 weeks when I was already measuring a week behind. My doctor then said she wanted me to have an ultrasound to get a better feel for how our baby is growing and developing.
More praying and texting with my family occurred, but all of the rolls and kicks I felt from our little guy while I sat in the waiting room eased my mind a little bit and I just tried to focus on his active movements.
Eventually I made my way into the ultrasound room where I was prepped and the ultrasound technician squirted the warm gel on my belly. Our baby immediately flashed on the screen and I swear I could’ve stared at that fuzzy black and while screen for hours. Our baby!
The ultrasound technician measured his head and abdomen and immediately eased my mind by saying he looked great! She estimated that our baby weighs right around 4.75 pounds (the 30th percentile for weight at this point) and though he’s a little on the small side, his measurements look perfectly healthy! (His heartbeat also seemed to come back up into the 140s, which was a relief as well.) My belly is measuring small, but my doctor thinks this could be, in large part, due to my super long torso. He just has more room to spread out!
I also got to learn exactly how our baby is positioned. He’s head down and facing my back, so his little booty is right above my belly button. The ultrasound technician also flipped back and forth to the 3D imaging which was absolutely unreal.
I saw our baby’s face and he looks so adorable!
(In the below pic half of his face is covered but I tried to make it easy to see his eyes, nose and mouth.)
Check out his pouty lips!!!
I love this little dude so much already. He’s definitely keeping me on my toes already but I am so grateful everything looked healthy in the end. This afternoon’s appointment gave me a healthy dose of perspective. I’ve been increasingly frustrated with my lack of mobility and the intense sacroiliac pain I’m experiencing, but I would deal with all of it 10,000 times over if it means our baby is safe and healthy.
Breakfast + Lunch
Backing up a bit…
Breakfast this morning included a strawberry banana smoothie.
I blended up a cup of strawberry Greek yogurt, frozen strawberries, a frozen banana, a couple of handfuls of fresh spinach, a spoonful of almond butter and coconut milk. It was sweet and filling!
After breakfast, I worked through the morning before inhaling a snack (half of a pb&j + some grapes) and heading to my prenatal appointment. After my doctor’s appointment, I grabbed a late lunch from the Whole Foods salad bar to eat while typing up this blog post.
And now it’s time for me to head to my physical therapy appointment. I am really hoping to learn some stretches and exercises that might be able to alleviate some of this pain!
Hope you guys are having a good Tuesday so far!
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Awww, hi baby! I’m so glad to hear everything is okay. Praying your PT helps with the pain!
I’m so glad that he is doing okay! I’ll keep you in my prayers!
I’m glad bubba is ok! My first baby was on the small side (6lb 14oz) and he’s now almost 5 and on the 99th percentile for height. And my third baby was 9lb 5oz at two weeks early – and a 2.5 hour labour 🙂 Crazy how two brothers can differ! Wishing you all the best for the rest of your pregnancy.
Oh my gosh, you poor thing. What a rough period you’re having, with the hip pain, some returning nausea, the death of your grandmother, and now this scare. I’m so glad everything is looking alright now. Will you have another checkup before 36 weeks, or did everything look good enough to stay on the normal schedule? I’ll be thinking of you and hoping for a healthy baby here in the next month or two!
oh Julie! I’m sorry you had a stressful day. Please don’t worry – the docs are just being sure you and baby are okay. They would be devastated if they didn’t just check you over if they had an inkling of a concern (imagine being in their shoes! I always think to myself “yes, If I were a nurse/doc/midwife I would have any mother and baby checked even if I were 99% sure there was no problem”)
I’m measuring a week ahead at baby being 5lb2oz so the margins seem really tight and they are equally keen to keep an eye on my little one too so it seems anything outside of what they consider normal requires some monitoring. Your little one isn’t that far behind mine on the weight scale and yet they are saying he is a bit small. Stay calm. You’re doing such a good job. Lots of fluids and tasty nutritious food and REST (although I know it’s boring and frustrating – i’m doing nothing more than walking which leaves me exhausted… I may stop soon and reduce dog walking to an amble round the block!) I really hope you’re okay. 🙂 xx
30th percentile for weight sounds find to me!
Glad baby and you are ok!! I went in for my 33 week appt yesterday and ended up being there for an hour and a half too, but I was ok (im surprised we didnt see each other in the halls). I ended up getting blood drawn and they found a little lump on my back that they want to monitor and check next week. Praying its ok! Glad we have good drs and nurses at Novant that take care of us. Praying for you guys! ps- loved your tour post 🙂 I felt the same way about it all. And it was cool to meet you!
Loved meeting you, Cristina!! And thanks so much for commenting. I wish we would’ve seen each other yesterday!
Hi Julie,
As a fellow first time pregnant mama (currently 30 1/2 wks) I can imagine that appointment was filled with a roller-coaster of emotions!
I’m also currently dealing with SI joint pain (on the right side) that is so painful! I’m a runner who had consistently been running through my entire pregnancy until about 2 weeks ago when this pain sidelined me and made walking, twisting, rolling in bed so difficult. I just saw a chiropractor yesterday for the first time that specializes in prenatal adjustments and I already feel less “stuck” in that joint and the pain has decreased tremendously. Have you thought about a visit to a prenatal chiropractor? She also specializes in the Webster technique which assists in aligning a pregnant woman’s pelvic region and relaxes the round ligaments in your pregnant belly to allow more movement for the baby in the uterus. (Our little guy is breech and this is supposed to help allow him room to turn naturally!)
I wish you all the best! I have so enjoyed following your pregnancy journey!
I am so glad everything is okay. I am way too familiar with that monitor, unfortunately I had a high risk pregnancy and had to be put on that monitor every week! No fun at all
Hi Julie, I’ve been a reader for a while and just wanted to say first off glad everything looked good and second, those long torsos of ours are tricky! I have one two and with my first baby around the same time (34/35wks) I got a scare from my Dr that I was measuring small and had to start going for weekly non-stress tests and an ultrasound to check baby out….well when my daughter was born she was 7lb14 and 22inches so not small at all!! She just had lots of room to hide with my long torso 🙂
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and I hope the pt can help!
Long torsos unite!! Thanks for your kind, reassuring words!! 🙂
Everyone has such helpful advice. I just felt like I needed to reach out and say that I understand the “first baby anxiety”. Although my first baby is now 26, I will never forget!
Hopefully you will find comfort in the fact that you aren’t alone feeling what you are feeling. The “science” behind childbirth should be call “parameters”. They did the right thing by checking you further. It’s always better to be safe than sorry. Sadly that can be the most terrifying option for the parents to be. Continue to pray! You will find great comfort in that.
My little girl always measured small in utero (I consistently measured 4-5 weeks behind), so I had NST’s (what you had) done at every visit for the last four weeks of my pregnancy. I’m only 5’2″ and my husband and I are both small people so we knew she was going to be small. The ultrasounds showed she was right on track and when she was born at 40 weeks 1 day, she was 6 lbs 5 oz and got down to 5 lbs 15 oz (6th percentile), but she is now almost 16 lbs at 5 months old and is in the 57th percentile for weight and 70th for height! I was so nervous at every visit and kept thinking it was my fault I was measuring small, but all is well and she is healthy, so try not to stress too much (I know, easier said than done!) Cute picture too, I can’t wait to see what he looks like when he’s here!
Yikes, that’s kind of a scary situation! I am glad everything is just fine now and you got see your little baby up close and personal! 🙂
I’m so, so sorry you had a stressful appointment, but I’m glad everything seems to be ok now.
Although I’m shorter than you (5’3), I have a long torso and measured a week or 2 behind at the end, too (despite having gained 34 lbs!). My little guy weighed only 6 lbs 1 oz at birth and, even at 8 months, is technically off the growth charts, but he is a spunky, active, healthy thing and proves that some babies are just small. Also, I’ve heard babies grow at very different rates prenatally and once born, so he might chunk up and surprise you later on.
Reading your blog daily, I feel like I know you..and I truly wish the best for you, Ryan, and Baby Fagan. 🙂
UGHHHHH girl I’m so sorry for the stress — these last few weeks are such a roller coaster of emotions and obviously you want him to stay put and grow but I remember so much anxiety just wanting baby OUT already where I could see her and watch her breath and move, etc. I’m glad the ultrasound put you at ease and he’s seriously adorable already!
*breathe. That typo was stressing me out.
at one of my appointments my doctor couldn’t find the heartbeat, but I felt him kicking so I wasn’t all that concerned 😉 glad everything’s OK!
SO SO glad everything is ok!!!! I’m sure you were a nervous wreck! We spent 4 hours in L&D on Monday having our baby monitored after we were in a car accident. Long story. Everything is fine though!! Just very nerve wracking! Prayers for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby boy for you guys over the next few weeks!! You’re getting oh so close!
so glad everything turned out okay! i’m sure those were really scary moments..
Glad everything is OK. I am almost 26 weeks pregnant and I’ve enjoying following yours, although yours seems to be going faster than mine! I’m having a hard time with pregnancy but I love my baby boy so much too and it keeps me going.