32 weeks, 4 days doctor's appointment

Today, I had my second appointment with the doctor this week.  I will have two appointments next week, too, when I should be measuring 33 weeks, just to make sure that everything is going well.

It was another BPP (biophysical profile) appointment, which is when I complete the "non-stress test" with the two straps that the nurse wraps across my belly with both a monitor to measure the baby's heart beat and a monitor to measure my uterus movement/contractions, and then the doctor hooks me up to the ultrasound machine afterwards to check on movement and growth from the inside of my belly.   The rest of my appointments will be "BPP" from here on out.

The baby was kicking A TON this morning, so the doctor was very happy.  The baby's heartbeat is normally in the 150s when they measure it, but it was in the 160s and even hit the 180s a few times because her heartbeat rose when she kept on kicking and jabbing.

Then, when the doctor examined the screen on the ultrasound machine, she said everything looked good... She could see a steady heartbeat, the baby takings breaths, a good amount of fluid around the baby, a "homogenous placenta" (which means that it's still working and not breaking down... if it has white spots, it means that calcium deposits are forming and it's getting old and is no longer useful to the baby), "good muscle tone" once again, she saw a full bladder, and measurements of the skull and stomach were good, right on track.

The doctor was shocked at how flexible the baby was.  The foot was touching the head, and she said that was "incredible" that the baby could do that.  I asked if that was a "good thing," and she said, "Oh yeah!" and just seemed impressed with it.

Below are some ultrasound pictures that the doctor printed out from today.  I posted the original and then posted a copy with some of my marks and label below each original print, to help pinpoint what you are actually looking at in the original printed copies.

Ultrasound picture #1: Face #1

 Ultrasound picture #2: Face #2

 Ultrasound picture #3: Face #3

 Ultrasound picture #4: Hand and two fingers, "peace sign"

Ultrasound picture #5: Skull

I feel great except for feeling extremely exhausted all the time.  Even though I'm not working per say during my normal hours in "work attire" in front of a room full of high school students, I feel like my schedule is just as busy now as I'm catching up on errands/chores from last year that I didn't have time for during the school year, while at the same time preparing ahead for things I need to do before my maternity leave this fall.  I woke up early to coach a cross country practice this morning, went to the doctor, picked up dry-cleaning, and then cleaned up my classroom at school for a few hours before coming home, and I feel like I could go to sleep right now at 8:15 PM.  But, I feel a little silly going to sleep before the sun even sets on these long summer days.  Although I still don't think I'm at the point where it looks like I have a basketball inside my shirt, I'm feeling a little more uncomfortable as I move around in general these days... and for which I really am just getting used to and am grateful for because it means Baby Peaches is growing strongly inside of me!