ANOTHER ultrasound

We had a high-tech ultrasound today.

The baby is fine. He has a little too much liquid, but there is no sign of any of the dangerous causes of that, and at least two of my previous babies also has a lot of extra fluid and were fine. I watched as they measured his brain, tummy, kidneys, bones, etc.

He looks like Benjamin. That's how clear the ultrasound images were.

And the due date?

Well....

The baby is coming in the next 4 weeks. Probably the first week in January. The ultrasound tech said that he's either really large for his age, or really small for his age, but we have no way to accurately determine his age, so....

So the doctor came in. I really liked him. He's a specialist in high-risk pregnancy and ultrasound stuff. He was very personable, very communicative, very honest.

And his conclusion? We'll be fine if we just let the me go into labor naturally--no inducing me at all--and watch for fetal distress if we go past the beginning of January, just to be on the safe side.

This was standard procedure in Colorado.

It took a specialist to declare it here in Nevada. Why, you might ask?

Because induction is standard procedure here, despite the fact that pitocin has been withdrawn in its approval for elective induction. They can always find an excuse, I guess, to term it 'medically necessary', and all the moms get induced around their due dates, and it's a given that they're going to have an epidural, which makes sense if they're all getting induced.

Anyway, I was trying to figure out how to explain to my doctor that, despite the fact that we're worried we won't make it to the hospital in time if my water breaks spontaneously during labor, I don't want to be induced--I think that, unless there is clear evidence of fetal distress, it's best to let nature run its course, and let babies come when they are ready.

For me--sometime in the next four weeks.

Good thing this isn't my first baby, or that 'due date' would make me nuts. As it is, that's kind of what I figured anyway--once you hit 36 weeks, the baby is coming sometime in the next 4 weeks anyway, and won't be stopped if it tries.

I'm guessing the first week in January? I'm tempted to have a contest--you post in the comments when you think the baby will come, and we'll find a prize for the winner (probably a candycane, just to warn you--and you'd have to come to us in Vegas to get it!).