Peeper Update: 33 Weeks 0 Days

Update 10:00 pm: Photos added!

I had another non-stress test yesterday and an ultrasound today, and Peeper continues to be a little trouble-maker, worrying us for nothing.

Again, she showed variable decelerations of her heart rate on the NST, but then looked just fine on ultrasound.

Given that we saw the decelerations last week as well, followed by a great ultrasound, and since I was already scheduled for an ultrasound today, my OB didn't seem to be too worried yesterday.

(At least, not worried enough to make me get naked or to send me to the perinatologist ahead of schedule.)

I am still having Braxton Hicks contractions off and on, and alot more "on" than "off" when I'm being more active.

It's not like I'm trying to run a marathon or anything; we're talking about things like carrying baskets of laundry back and forth (trying to get Peeper's clothes all washed up and in the new dresser), or walking around Target Sunday night (about 5 contractions in the 30 - 45 minutes we were there).

Or driving to the perinatologist's office this morning (about 5 contractions in the last 20 minutes of the trip).

Basically, they said that when they start up, I should sit down, get some liquids in me and take it easy.

I've also been instruction to avoid any, shall we say, oxytocin-producing activities. Which is quite the bummer.

This morning was our ultrasound, with the perinatologist. (Dr. Peri is out this week, too, for more Jewish holidays, so we saw Dr. Not-Peri again.)

We discussed everything that the OB had said yesterday, and he agreed, all around.

He also confirmed that Peeper's single umbilical artery could be a factor in the variable decelerations, in that a given amount of cord compression could have more of an effect on her than it would if she had two arteries.

Speaking of cord compression - we're blaming that all on her. If you look closely at that photo of her hands from last week, the cord is running right there between them, so we figure she's just playing with it.

That was our personal theory, and Dr. Not-Peri agreed that it actually is likely that she's squeezing it. (He's seen that before.)

Of course, who could blame her. I'm sure she's pretty hard up for entertainment in there, and it's hooked right to her tummy. Hard to resist, I would think.

I'd prefer that she leave it the hell alone while she's being monitored, though!

He also said that "as active as she is," there's lots of opportunity for her to sit on it and squish it as she's moving around.

It was kind of funny, both the sonographer and Dr. Not-Peri commented several times on how active she was during the scan, and we could certainly see her doing a lot of wiggling around in there, but I was feeling almost none of those movements.

I can't imagine what's actually going on when I do feel her rolling around in there like crazy!

They did not do another set of measurements so we don't have an update on her size (we'll do that next week), but they did like everything that they saw, including some practice breathing - although we had to wait almost the whole thirty minutes for her to get around to that.

(To "pass" that test, she has to "breathe" for 30 seconds at least once during a 30 minute observation. Like her Mama, she waited til the last minute to get her work done!)

I guess the only other real news from today's exams is that Peeper has hair!

The sonographer pointed it out to us on one of the 3D views. It doesn't show up like you'd think, because it's floating (think about what your hair does when you go underwater in the swimming pool) so it looks like a fringe around her head.

Or kind of spikey. The sonographer said that it looks like she has the same hair style that I do!

She didn't say if it's a lot of hair or a little, and of course, we won't know anything about color til she comes out, but I have to admit that I was glad to hear that she has some!

La, la, la, I can't hear you!

Woe is Peep!