Fine

"Fine."  That's what the doctor said.  Muse is "fine".

I was also told that it's crowded in there.  And it is.  There is placenta everywhere.   Seriously, it is amazing how the entire left side of my uterus is filled with placenta (and there is confusion over whether it is a two-lobed placenta or two separate placentas (placenta spuria, in case you were wondering)...I have no idea how I could have two placentas since there is only one umbillical cord (I guess that's why it's a spurious placenta), but the MFM is requesting the pathology report from the placenta after the birth because he's "curious"...not concerned, just curious).   Adding to the crowded conditions, Muse is already about 6 pounds with 5 weeks to go.  Do the math.  If I go to term, that's about 8.5 to 11 pounds depending on rate of weight gain.  I am guessing 8 lbs 8 ounces at 39 weeks 3 days.  Also, there are 14 centimeters of pockets of amniotic fluid.

There was some confusion about why we were there.  We believed we were there to re-scan the heart, which was supposedly subjectively enlarged.  The ultrasound tech had looked through our chart and was doing a growth scan because often babies with the specific soft markers we had at 21 weeks suffer from IUGR.  He was scanning to make sure growth was good.  (And I would say 95th percentile for head, femur, and abdominal circumference is good).  The MFM doctor said that the heart was fine in the last ultrasound, he wasn't concerned about the growth, but that he had seen something in the brain last time that had him concerned.  Normal ventricles can be up to 10 mm.  Muse's were 9.4 mm, so he wanted to re-scan to see what happened.  They are now 7-ish millimeters, so no harm, no foul.  High-normal...we are to report this to the pediatrician after birth, but MFM doesn't see it as an issue.  I looked at the 29 week ultrasound photos.  I think someone was a little sloppy with the measurement cursor.  I measure things on microscope pictures all the time and you need to place your little cross pretty precisely to get an accurate measurement.  And when it counts, we usually do it three times and average the three (and sometimes will have a second person do three measurements to see whether they agree).  Personally, having looked at the images, I don't think it was 9.4 mm anyway.  I'd guess less.  Something in the 8s. 

I guess if we had to be all confused, I am glad I thought it was something with the heart and not something with the brain.  I think I can handle heart issues better than brain issues.  The good news is we left the ultrasound without needing to schedule a follow-up with anyone (neurosurgeon, MFM again, genetic counselor, etc).  Relief, of a kind.  Obviously there is no way to know for sure that everything is OK (or OK enough) until ... you know....whenever it is that you stop worrying about your kids (so never), but I'm a little more relaxed now.

Today is my birthday.  I am 36 now officially.  I was 6 lbs 10 ounces when I was born 36 years ago, but my mom was a smoker.  I think my true birth weight would have been closer to 8 lbs 5 ounces had my mom not smoked.  My older sister was 7 lbs 11 oz (when my mom was not smoking).  Usually your second same gendered child is an average of 10 ounces heavier than your first.  Ergo, I should have been 8 lbs 5 ounces.  By that same logic, Bobo should have been 8 lbs 13 ounces (but was 8 lbs 2 ounces since he was delivered early due to placenta previa).  Poor, tiny Bobo.  So growth restricted and born early and tiny.  Hee hee. Not.  I still think of him as my big baby since he didn't lose nearly as much weight as Chuckles did after birth.

Anyway, that's what's up.