Pregnancy Update: 34 Weeks

I realized yesterday that I am only 3 weeks from when I had Norah (which was at 37 weeks). It freaked me out just a bit. 

I'm feeling good overall, but am showing multiple signs of pre-term labor. I started feeling menstrual-like cramping over a month ago. The nurse I talked to three weeks ago felt it was nothing to be concerned about since they were infrequent and not strong at all. The next week I had a doctor's appointment and my doctor agreed they were probably not contractions, but decided to check me just to make sure. 

She discovered my cervix is soft and the baby is "unusually low." Considering those two things, she figures the cramps probably are contractions. She asked me to come back in a week to see if there was any progression. Before we left she handed me a sticky note with her pager number on it "just in case." As we were walking out I said to Seth, "Something you never want to get from your doctor - a piece of paper with the number of the most direct way of reaching her." 

So I went in last Monday and she confirmed that I had not progressed. Her comment was, "Nothing has changed, but I still don't like it." It is the combination of all of the signs, plus the fact that I had Norah early. She also commented, "I'm not sure we're going to have a 37-week baby."  

She will be seeing me weekly for signs of progression. In the meantime, she wants me to be "couch-potato-ish" and stop exercising. Seth and I decided to take that as far as we can. He took Norah in to school today and is working from the office down here so that I can literally lay around all day. I'll try to minimize activity this weekend as much as possible.

If we didn't have TJ's early birth (33 weeks) as a point of reference we would probably be freaking out a little more. While the stats all look pretty good for a 34-week baby, we are doing what we can to keep her in there as long as possible. 

We got the image below from the ultrasound that was done a few weeks ago to confirm growth. My doctor wasn't really worried, but ordered it due to my small size (she did the same with Norah). All was fine, and we got this picture of her sweet little face. 

Guess we better get serious about a name!