23 weeks down ...

I guess I ought to update everyone on my progress. It's been over two weeks since my last update and the main reason why I haven't updated the blog is because I have been trying to get the ultrasound pictures from my 18 week exam viewable on here, plus I now have my 22 week ultrasound DVD and pictures I want to add. My problem is I don't have a scanner - and I don't know how to convert the DVD into a smaller format that can be loaded onto the blog. Soooo, long story short, I haven't felt up to updating the blog because I can't share the pictures and DVD with everyone. It's a big bummer for me.h
But I can at least let everyone know that the baby is doing very well. Dr. Hansen and the nurse/technician who recorded the ultrasound to DVD and took the ultrasound pictures said that the baby is looking really healthy with a strong heartbeat averaging about 160 beat per minute. She has a four-chambered heart running on all cylinders, her kidneys are also functioning fully and the formation of her skull and brain are right on track. I was told she's weighing at about one pound, which is normal for her gestational age. And at my appointment last week for my 22 week exam, you could see that she was certainly active and kicking. She was doing a lot of the latter, which has me worried how it'll be in the last couple of months when she's bigger. There are kicks (or some kind of movement) now that sometimes startle me so well it's like something's trying to spring from my stomach - like in the movie Alien with Sigourney Weaver. Minus the blood and the violence and pain. But that's what the movement reminds me of. The force behind her movements amazes me because Emma's still so small. It was so fun to watch her move around and huddle up in her little space. Her most comfy position seems to be with her ankles crossed and her hands at either side of her head.
Back to the appointment itself, the one thing the doctor has seen in the last two appointments is that the baby is measuring about a week smaller than I calculated. When you take into consideration my LMP, she's due around May 24th, but Dr. Hansen said she's physically measuring to be due more like June 1st. He hasn't changed the date on record, and he said if he does it'll be closer to my due date before he changes it. But I'm hoping that she'll just be a small baby and that she'll make her presence known on the 24th (give or take a couple of days). I can't imagine having a nine pound baby, like my mom did - with me.... yes, I admit I was for some reason a hefty blessing. But I don't want that big of a blessing on my first try. For those that don't know I'm the baby in the family so Mom got two practice labors so-to-speak on my brother Tyson and sister Rachel. So with Dr. Hansen telling me that Emma's measuring small is actually a relief to me.
BUT, if Emma somehow starts packing on the fat (which the gestation calendar says this is the time that the baby is storing fat to live outside the womb) then so be it. I just hope I'll be able to get her out either way.
EPIDURAL! Yes! I forgot, I'm definitely getting one of those babies! So maybe things won't be bad after all....