7 month Appointment

Our doctor's appointment last Tuesday went really well.  I am not dilated at all and seem to be within reasonable weight gain according to my doctor - 19.8 pounds at this point? Sounds pretty big to me, but I'll take his word :) I guarantee it would be more if we were in the US with fast food and TCBY at my fingertips- this countryside France thing has kept my eating habits in check for sure!

The 7 month sonogram was on Wednesday and folks- we have a 4.3 pound baby ALREADY!!! Our doctor said we are hugging the upper line on the French average charts.  Granted, studies show that overall, American babies are larger than French babies for some reason? So if we keep at this pace and make it full term, we will have a baby in the 8+ pound range JUST like her Mom :) Everything looks good - she has NOT turned yet, but we were told at this point that is nothing to be worried about. Little Stella has decided to practice her best "V sit" by sitting smack dab on my bladder! No wonder even 1 sip of water makes me have to go to the ladies room! So her head is on my upper right side, her bottom on my bladder (haha), and her feet up under my left rib cage! All the movements I feel on my upper right side are her very active arms- she loves to keep them up by her face, making it very difficult for our doctor to get a good picture of her! We saw her hiccup, suck her thumb, and open and close her mouth... she is looking more and more like a baby.  It is magical.  The 3D picture we got was a special treat that I requested - My doctor said that they rarely do them in the 3rd trimester because the baby is too big and there is not enough amniotic fluid to make a good, clear picture.  He made an exception and took 2 quick pictures of her face... She definitely has beefed up and has cheeks that go on for miles :) Love them! After my Dad saw the picture he sent me a picture of my preemie sister who weighed in at a mere 4 pounds 8 ounces!  He said he thinks both are pretty cute.... (aliens)! Crazy to think she is almost already Katy's size at this point!


Thursday we had our second birthing class and this one was on breastfeeding.  Logan was nervous because none of the men attended, but he needed to so he could translate... it ended up being okay and not awkward at all.  There are only 3 of us in the class (1 girl even has my SAME due date!) and because it is so small, I feel like I am less of a burden when I need to ask a question or Logan needs the teacher to pause and translate.  I LOVED the midwife today- she was so nice and even though I did not understand everything, she made eye contact and smiled at me so that I felt like I was still a part of the discussion and class.  THAT made all the difference! I hope by some miracle that Cecile is our midwife on D-Day! Another fun fact: We get "prescribed" electric breast pumps from the pharmacy.  Granted, you have to return them once you are finished, but its a great cost saver for us right now! 

So far so good.... I am still having really bad upper back pain when I sit for long stretches of time, but it is manageable and I have little else to complain about, so I feel lucky!  Stella is a complete spaz in my belly sometimes and it makes me laugh to watch my stomach contort into these weird conehead shapes or literally shake a few times - UNFORTUNATELY, this girl is ALREADY camera shy because every time I try to get it on video, she stops.... Hmmmm this could be a problem for her picture-happy Mama :)