33 Weeks

Emma:
    "This week your baby weighs a little over 4 pounds (heft a pineapple) and has passed the 17-inch mark. He's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and his skeleton is hardening. The bones in his skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for him to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a cone head like appearance) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as his brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood."

Me:
  I had two doctors appointments this week. The (hopefully) final Perinatologist appointment, and my 33 week OB appointment.  The Perinatologist appointment again turned into a couple hour event. They wanted another non-stress test after the biophysical profile.  The first ultrasound that they did was quite entertaining. Emma would not. stop. moving.  I thought it was funny, but the ultrasound tech did not. at all. She kept trying to measure her femur, head, abdomen, and heart but Emma was moving so much that she couldn't get most of them.  I wasn't sure what to say... "I'm sorry?"  "Emma STOP it!?"  Right. But as soon as the doctor came in, Emma was completely still again.  It was pretty strange.  So then we had to get another non-stress test, which was also funny.  As soon as the nurse put the monitors on my tummy, Emma was kicking at them and rolling around like crazy again.  The normally 20  minute test went well over an hour and the nurse had to keep coming in to adjust the heart rate monitor. I ended up taking videos of her kicking. Every time she kicked, the monitor would pick up the whooshing sound.  It was really loud in that room! 
   I had my usual check up with my OB the next day.  It went well, nothing out of the ordinary, but I did ask the doctor about epidurals.  I thought it was funny that the first thing he said was, "just so you know, the anesthesiologist bills for the epidural by the hour, not by the dose." He then went on to explain that if I was getting an epidural, I should take advantage of the pain relief and even if I wasn't exactly in pain I should suggest that I needed more since the bill would be the same.  He also gave me his cell phone number in case they wouldn't listen to me when I asked for more.  I thought that was pretty funny.  But I also jokingly mentioned that I work at the hospital and would be making calls to people I know if they weren't taking care of my pain. :) 
   Its interesting that Emma gets startled more easily now.  I feel mean, but it cracks me up when random loud noises makes her jump.  For example, Jake and Mark were watching the Steelers game on tv. Something happened they didn't like, so they both simultaneously yell, "NOO!!"  Which made Emma jump, and made me laugh. Scary daddy and uncle Markie :) 

33 Week Belly