almost 33 weeks!

I had another ffn today along with a manual exam of the cervix (no ultrasound measurement this time). We'll have the ffn results back tomorrow, but I've had one of my better weeks contraction-wise, so I would be very surprised if it is anything other than negative again. My cervix still feels "pretty long" and only dilated a finger-tip as it has been for a few months now. We will do one more ffn in two weeks when we do my "34 week growth check" ultrasound (that will be actually almost 35 weeks), and after that, we are done with monitoring for preterm labor!

At this point my doctor is planning not to put me on trabutaline any time between now and birth. Since I've gotten this far without it, he feels we are past the biggest danger zone and we don't need to put my body through the meds like we did with Ruth!!! (I am so thankful for a doctor who doesn't believe in torturing pregnant women unnecessarily!) While we don't foresee any immediate trigger of labor, I got the impression that he won't go out of his way to put on the brakes even if I were to go into full labor tomorrow.

Since the 32-34 weekers still usually need some breathing help and NICU time, I would still like to get to about 36 weeks (that's just a little more than 3 weeks from now!), but baby is already doing great on his practice breathing and seems to be maturing very well, so I'm not insistent on going all the way to 40 if he is safe to come sooner! I did only measure 30 weeks on my fundal height, so this little guy still isn't huge, but my doctor really thinks this has to do more with the way I carry my babies that with a concern about his growth - 2 weeks ago he was measuring a day ahead by ultrasound growth check and we will have another ultrasound check in two more weeks just to confirm that all is still on track. With several friends who have recently given birth around the 34/35 week mark, I'm getting excited about the possibility that we might be meeting this little boy in the next few weeks...of course, watch him be my one prankster who takes me all the way to or past my due date!

My body did well this time too. I've actually gained 4 pounds in the last 13 days!!! Having my mom around to do the cooking and all the Christmas goodies I've been pigging out on probably helped, but so has taking zantac 2x daily since my last doctor's appointment. I actually feel hungry and capable of keeping food down again! So, I'm now a whopping 5 pounds over my starting pregnancy weight. If I do go to term and keep up this kind of weight gain, I could pack on another 15 pounds or so!