Thursday 29 December 2011

It's the final countdown!




At almost 35 weeks down the line, I'm more concerned with my personal countdown rather than the NYE one.  I'm afraid my plans for NYE will involve plenty of rest and watching a movie or ten on my laptop - and that is probably going to be the plan for the next few years.

Today I had my fortnightly doc's appointment, where I found out some interesting stuff.  First of all, I was quite pleased to discover that my weight dropped by 300 grams rather than increasing, since 2 weeks ago.  This means that since the beginning of my pregnancy, I've gained a total of 8 kilos.  Yay!  Blood pressure and everything else was ok.


When it was time to have the ultrasound scan, Doc said he is pleased with my weight and that all the meat substitutes [since I'm Pescatarian] I'm eating must be doing the trick as Creature is growing perfectly - and is actually a bit advanced! "How did the doc know?" you might ask me.


When an ultrasound scan is carried out, the ultrasound technician/doctor carrying out the scan will take various measurements of different body parts.  The machine they use will give the measurements and associate them with the progress of the pregnancy weeks-wise.

  The first measurement that is taken is called the Biparietal Diameter [BPD] which is the diameter across the developing baby's skull, from one parietal bone to the other.  Creature's BPD today was that of 9.77cm - which is 40 weeks' dimension.


It is big for  a reason!

The second measurement to be taken is the Abdominal Circumference  [AC] - pretty self-explanatory, really - which is the single most important measurement in assessing foetal size and growth.  It is important that this measurement is taken as accurately as possible.  Severe intrauterine growth retardation can be missed if the AC is not measured. Creature's AC today was measured to be 32.42cm - which is usually associated with a 36 week 2 day foetal age.


Last but not least, the Femur Length [FL] is measured.  If you're not too familiar with your bone structure, the femur is basically your thighbone.  Creature's FL today measured at 7.08cm - which is also considered to indicate a foetal age of 36 weeks 2 days usually.

This basically means that Creature is going to be a brainy, tall, round-bellied individual!

As an additional piece of info for you lot, here's a glossary of the most common pregnancy-related terms.  It may help you understand better what doctors and midwives and pregnancy-related literature are going on about.

My family are convinced Creature  will be born preterm because of his/her size.  I feel like a ticking time bomb right now.  Everyone is stressing out about my needing to have everything ready, just in case.  To be honest, I've got most stuff prepared - the rest, I'm guilty of procrastinating.  We'll see what happens.  In the meanwhile, I'll ignore their buggering and badgering and just take things day by day.


5 comments:

  1. Curious, are you a Pescatarian for moral reasons or for health reasons?

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  2. Moral reasons. Since living on such a tiny island means easy access to fresh fish that wasn't bred in fish farms, I find no moral qualms about it. I do tend to limit fish intake when abroad though.

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  3. Ah ok, was curious of the health advantages of such a diet.

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  4. There are numerous benefits to be honest. Here are some links to articles that give you some in-depth info :)
    http://www.naturalnews.com/023737_fish_diet_vegetarian.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pescetarianism
    http://www.ehow.com/about_7629999_benefits-being-pescatarian.html


    It is important to avoid consuming fish that potentially contain high mercury levels, amongst other toxins, on a regular basis as it would be detrimental to one's health. However, in general, it tends to be a pretty healthy dietary option :)

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  5. Thanks for the info, was considering on incorporating more fish in my diet.

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