Putting on the Pounds...

Today we went to see Dr. Gei, who is the high-risk doctor we've been seeing to keep track of Brooke's growth. We saw him about 3 weeks ago and Brooke's estimated weight was 3 pounds, 7 ounces. Which, at that time, she had gained a pound and a half in 5 weeks...not so great. Well, when we were there today, she had gained about a pound and a half in THREE weeks!! Her estimated weight at this point is 4 pounds, 13 ounces. She is still very tiny for her age. The average baby at 36 weeks is about 6 pounds...so Brooke is actually only in the 5th percentile for her weight. However, Dr. Gei said he was very happy to see that she has kept a constant growth over the last three weeks and she is still looking very healthy. They were originally considering having me induced at 37 weeks (unless she came on her own!) if her growth hadn't improved. But, the way things look at the moment, Dr. Gei says there is no need for that and we will let her come naturally whenever she decides to!

I have a feeling that part of her slow weight gain had to do with the stomach parasite that I had back in May. I had lost weight during all of that and was very sick, so I'm sure it affected Brooke too. She now seems to be right on track as far as how much weight she should be gaining. All the books say that she should be gaining a half a pound a week right now, which she has done over the last 3 weeks! So, next week on Wednesday I will be taken off the Procardia. Chances are, I will go into labor very soon after, if it's anything like what happened last time! That means that if Brooke stays on this track of gaining half a pound a week, she will be over 5 pounds at birth. I know that is still very small, but it makes me feel a lot better knowing she will have passed the 5 pound mark!

It was so neat to see Brooke on the screen! The technician even showed her to us in 4/D! We could see her yawning and sticking out her tongue! She is so beautiful! We did get a little glimpse for a picture, but it's nothing compared to what we saw on the screen. Brooke kept putting her hand in front of her face (just like last time!) so it was very hard to get a good picture. My computer does not work with our scanner, so I just took a picture of it with my camera, therefore the quality doesn't look so good. You will notice in the picture that she has her little fingers near the left side of her face and it almost looks like she's sticking out her tongue just a tad bit. Reagan and I definitely think now that she has his nose!! We can not wait to see her in real life!!

Thank you to everyone for all of your love, support, and prayers!!! Please continue to pray for little Brooke~pray for pounds!! :)