Update on Baby Nora: 34 weeks

We are at 34 weeks, yay! Matt and I were just talking the other day about how quickly this pregnancy has gone. It seems like a lot has happened since I last blogged about our sweet little Nora so I'll try to recap as best as I can (this post may be a little long). At 30 weeks we had another ultrasound of Nora because on the 20 week ultrasound they didn't get a good look at her spine. Her spine looked good at the 30 week ultrasound and we were excited to have another look at our girl. Here's a 3D picture from that ultrasound:

Two weeks (32 weeks) later I went back to the doctor for a regular check up. Since most check ups are pretty routine at that point I went early in the afternoon while Matt was at work. Dr. Fry was listening to Nora's heartbeat and detected an irregularity, called a pre-atrial contraction. She listened for about 5 minutes to make sure that's what she was hearing and told me that she wanted me to come in first thing the next morning to listen again. She said that most of the time these things resolve themselves and she never hears it again. Of course I left the doctor's office crying, called Matt and we spent the evening worried about Nora. The next morning we were at the doctor right at 8 to listen again. That morning Dr. Fry heard it again and said that she wanted to recommend us to a specialist. The specialist didn't have an opening for a week but we went ahead and made the appointment. At that point we had everyone we knew praying for Nora & for the upcoming appointment. 

That evening Dr. Fry's nurse called us (at 5:45 p.m.) and said that the specialist was going to open his office just for us the following morning to check Nora out. We had mixed emotions, not knowing if we were getting in early because it was urgent or because our doctor had called in a favor. The next morning we went to the specialist and he did the longest ultrasound I've ever had (almost an hour). He looked at Nora's anatomy of the heart, heart rate, blood flow to the heart, blood flow to the umbilical cord and checked her anatomical measurements. He was not able to detect the pre-atrial contraction (PAC) and said that her heart looks good. He told us that PACs can be common sometimes in the 3rd trimester.  He said that as of that time we have baby girl who looks pretty normal. We were so relieved!

Now, two weeks later we are at 34 weeks! We went to the doctor today and everything still looks good. Nora's heart rate was good today and her heart beat was normal. 

Here are some fun facts about Nora:

• She should weigh about 4 3/4 pounds (the size of a cantaloupe) and should be about 18" long 
• She is fully developed and right now she's just fattening up
• Her lungs and central nervous system are maturing
• She already gets annoyed when her sister crowds her space :) Ellis has been kicked several times!

33 weeks, 5 days