GIRLS are so body conscious...

Yesterday I had an appointment with a perinatologist (I can spell it, but I can't pronounce it) to take a close and personal look at my risky pregnancy... They did ultrasounds for about an hour and then I meet with Dr. Wolfson who explained possible risks, potential problems, etc. The baby looks healthy and normal - but for some reason we've got some other problems that will likely cause preterm labor, so they want me to go on progesterone therapy to prevent going into labor too early. The baby also decided to route the umbilical cord into something other than the placenta -- strange, but true. Apparently this will cause only the side effect of being small. In other words, my baby's on a diet already. I was a little alarmed by a few things the Doc Wolfson said, mostly that if I get an infection they will have to deliver the baby no matter how far along I am (I am only 17 weeks, mind you) and that my placenta is "low lying" so it seems that any shifting would cause me to have to have a C-section. I was also concerned about the 'small' baby thing, as just this week I watched a documentary on primordial dwarfism and that was the first thing that came to mind, that I would have an uber-small child. I was wrong -- (because, yes, I did ask) it just means that the baby have a small birth weight... They will monitor the baby closely during the 3rd trimester to be sure that she's gaining weight -- and if she isn't, Doc Wolfson said they'll "take her." I'm hoping that when they do decide to take her, they'll give her back.

The best news of course, was that she is seemingly healthy -- and yes, she's a SHE. It was surprising to hear, because we were all convinced it was a BOY. We had discussed only boy names and I had perused the boy section at the store and thought of decorating a nursery in blue tones -- but, it's another girl. I was actually relieved that it is a girl -- because I know girls (so far, so good) and I'm pretty confident that I can teach a girl - girl things. Boys on the other hand, that's something I just don't get.

I called Maya and told her that it's a girl and she let out a huge moan, like she was upset. I asked her if she was disappointed and she said, "No mom, I just lost 5 bucks." My mom let the girls bet on the baby's sex and Maya guessed BOY. Other than losing the bet, she's pretty excited. She wanted to immediately to to the store and buy baby things. We did go to Target, but the baby section is very overwhelming... we ended up leaving with a mattress pad for Hayley and some wall decals for Maya... I guess we'll have to try that shopping excursion again.

SO -- in other news -- the girls start school on Tuesday (YEAH!). They are nervous/excited to start a new school. They meet their teachers on Friday night, so hopefully that will take away some of the fear... We went to the school's dedication last week and it looks a bit like a prison, it's just missing the barbed wire across the top of the fence. I think they are running behind schedule, so hopefully by Tuesday it will look a little different. We are excited to go to school in our neighborhood so that they girls will be better able to make close friends.

Emily will be going home to the David on Sunday. We will miss her terribly - she's been a HUGE help this summer. The best part was that I hardly had to pay her at all to babysit my girls (sucker). Next year will be different, hopefully my girls can just babysit the baby all summer (sure).

That's all for now. I will put up pictures from the girls' San Fran vacation soon. Aunt Bree took lots of pictures of the girls and their adventures in California, so I'm looking forward to getting those together to share.