Keep growing, Baby Sweet Pea. [an update]

While I don't particularly like the reason why I'm considered high risk this pregnancy, I do like that I get to see Baby Sweet Pea more often via ultrasound than I saw my boys. Today was another one of those ultrasound days - a day I've been anxiously awaiting for more than two months [which is when my last ultrasound was].

Even though I really shouldn't have been nervous - Sweet Pea had been a VERY active little bean for most of the day - I was totally nervous when I walked into my MFM's office. My awesome mom made the trip up from our hometown to attend the scan with me, so that helped calm my nerves a little bit. My blood pressure was still higher than normal, though, something I'm chalking up to the nerves [but my blood pressure is starting to rise, so gotta keep an eye on that]. The nerves went away as soon as I got first glance at Sweet Pea, though.

The first thing I thought was, "Man. She's so big!" My last scan was 10 weeks ago, and she has definitely grown a lot since then. Measurements put her four days ahead of my due date [but I'm not changing my EDD] and weighing about 2lbs12oz. She had a bright spot on her heart at her anatomy scan, but that seemed to have disappeared - woo! Everything with her looks great and is developing on track, and she even yawned a few times. The tech even put the 4D on so I could see her that way - so.flipping.awesome. She gave us a wave and yawned again, and I really got to see her little face and hands. It looks like she has my nose. :) It was such a relief to get a great report and to know that she is developing as she should.

At this point, I'm 28 weeks and almost in the home stretch. I start non-stress tests in three weeks, go back in four for another ultrasound, then I schedule my hospital tour and go to my refresher baby course. The closer we get to January, the more excited I get. I think I'm finally starting to feel like she could come home with us. I'm not as stressed out as I was with my last pregnancy, I've really been watching what I do and try not to overdo it, and I just feel better about things. I've started buying clothes for her, got her car seat, and I'm about to buy her stroller. Eek!

I really haven't stopped smiling since I left the scan - and it was so neat to share that experience with my mom, who hasn't been to an ultrasound since JJ's 20-week scan [which was more than five years ago, holy crap]. I think she thinks that we pregnant women are spoiled today; technology has advanced so much since my sister and I were born. She couldn't believe the detail we could see with the 4D - and neither could I!

I hope that I can continue to be excited about Baby Sweet Pea's arrival. Apprehension starts to creep in as I think about how close I am to my loss milestone, but I'm trying to stay positive and believe that she will come home with us. Keep growing, Baby Sweet Pea. I absolutely can't wait to meet you.

She cooperated and gave us an awesome profile shot today. :)

She's got the beginnings of my nose. I love that face.

As a side note, thank you all SO much for reading my post on my sweet Devon. It meant the world that so many of you took the time to read my post and leave sweet comments about how beautiful he was. It took a lot for me to share that picture, and I was really anxious about how things would go down after I posted. I'm so grateful to have awesome people in my life. Thank you.