Update on my pregnancy with Samuel.

Today (Tuesday) I had another ultrasound. That's Samuel's profile you are looking at. Isn't he cute?! I think this brings me to a total of 6 ultrasounds for this pregnancy. I honestly don't understand why so many. That's about as many as I had with all three other pregnancies combined! And I have another one scheduled for September.

I am told the reason for so many scans is because he is measuring small. According to today's measurements, Samuel is about 3 pounds 13 ounces at nearly 32 weeks. That means he's gained about a pound this month. The technician's chart says his weight puts him at about the 40th percentile.

For those not familiar with the way doctors love to compare the size of children, that means if you lined up 100 baby boys according to weight at 32 weeks gestation, 60 boys would be bigger than my Samuel.

I have Ellie's 2 year pediatrician appointment in a couple of weeks and plan to talk to him about this. I know he's going to laugh to hear one of MY boys is below average in size. Once my guys start crawling they barely hit the 50th percentile range for height or weight. And Ellie has stayed way below that.

Their real concern seems to be that I'm not eating enough. I've only gained about 10 pounds since my initial visit (if you disregard the 4 pounds I lost after that visit). I think this is amazing! And even stranger that they are so concerned. I mean, look at that picture in the sidebar. Do I look skinny or underweight? I've got plenty of extra calories stored on my hips for this baby if he'd only use them!

I'm sure you are sick of hearing me talk about this so I'll move on. One thing of real concern is that the blood work taken last month for my glucose test shows I'm anemic. Like border line needing a blood transfusion anemic. This doesn't cause me as much concern as it does the doctors. My body stays border line anemic (a product of my rheumatoid arthritis) so I think this is just one of those quirks about my body. But, I'll be a good patient and take the iron pills (and the Colace pills that the iron is going to necessitate!). Mainly because I don't want a blood transfusion. And if it's that bad now and I can just imagine what it will be like after a c-section surgery.

On a more fun note, Samuel moves a LOT. It's a fine and good for them to say he's small but when you stand 5 feet tall the only place for a baby to put his legs and feet is your ribs. And boy does he! His movements have started being strong enough the other 3 can see my stomach jerk and move. They are GREATLY amused and awed by this.

Ellie likes to raise my shirt and pat my belly. She says "Baby Sa-muwle" and kisses my belly. The boys like to talk to him also. They tell him "hi," "I love you," "this is your big brother, Will." It's all very cute. This is the first time I've had a child old enough (Will) to really understand what's going on.

That's our current pregnancy news. Next thing on the agenda around here is Ellie's second birthday. That's Friday. In case you are wondering, there will be a few days shy 26 months between Ellie and Samuel. Neither of the other boys made it to their second birthday before a new baby arrived.