Woah Baby!

Baby Madeline at 35 weeks and 2 days (Notice her heart!) So sweet

The holiday season brings numerous things, endless hours of Christmas Shopping to find those perfect gifts for those you love, lots and lots of yummy cookies and most important it brings family even closer.

This week has been hard because Matt's Great Aunt (His dad's mom's sister) passed away this week from a terrible fall that she had in her home. So today was the funeral, Unfortunately I was unable to attend due to my OBGYN apt that was at the same time. I'm still measuring at 35 weeks which is great! & they asked me are you having leg cramps, trouble walking, and swollen feet every now and then? Um.. YES YES & YES! They always listen to her heartbeat just to make sure everything is going smoothly and today it was a bit irregular.. Its usually strong and steady at 150 beats per minute but today the Dr and I could hear it skip a few beats. The one appointment I wish my husband could of been there because it was scary, But I knew his family needed him there at the service. My OBGYN called a High Risk Maternal and Fetal Dr to make an appointment for me to get a echocardiogram this afternoon at 3 pm. My OBGYN said that caffeine and chocolate are usually causes of irregular heart beats, but I haven't had caffeine in months. So maybe all those yummy chocolate cookies that I have been making aren't always a good thing? This year I will be leaving the cookies (well the chocolate ones) for Santa and eating less sweets.

Matt and I met with the High Risk Dr and got another sonogram! We love seeing her on the screen it makes it all so real, and boy does she have chubby cheeks! She's in the 98% percentile for almost everything and weighs a whopping 7 pounds 5oz already! She's the weight of a baby at week 37. So at the rate that she is growing the Dr said she will be 9 pounds 4 oz at delivery! Yikes! Its already hard to walk and they said that the odds of us delivering early are rare because first babies don't usually come early. He focused on her heart for the majority of the appointment and said that only 2% of the 150 beats per minute does her heart skip a beat, which is great news. So he's not to concerned and I have been told to have NO chocolate and NO caffeine, and we will go back next Tuesday December 27th to check her heart again. More than likely over 50% chance that her heart will be back to normal and we will have nothing to worry about. Also due to her large size I will go back to see him one more time a bit closer to my due to measure her size again to get an estimated size of her so my OBGYN and I know what to expect. I wasn't to scared of delivery because the result of pushing is a beautiful baby girl and I just want to hold her in my arms, but wow.. 9 pds?

We are now having weekly appointments at my OBGYN so we get to go back this friday and hear her heart beat again, so hopefully it will be back to normal and I can update with some great news!

XO Matt, Ashlie and Baby Madeline