When your doctor says "hmmmm..."

Well, I am now 24 weeks and about 21 pounds heavier so yes, I would say I am still in fact very pregnant with baby #2. This baby is moving all the time and I love feeling those flutters, jabs, and rolls. Latest checkup, however, has brought a few concerns to the table...but nothing that I need to immediately worry about.

At my 20 week visit I had a the normal scheduled ultrasound. Baby was "stubborn", according the US tech, and breach making it difficult to see the spine and kidneys very well so another ultrasound was scheduled for my 24 week appointment. Everything else, according to the doctors, looked good despite the fact that my baby was in the 10th percentile for growth at 20 weeks. No real concern then considering my technical due date is four days later (but they can't change it now I guess...).

Fast forward four weeks...I have another appointment and ultrasound. Spine and kidneys look good and sitting in the doctor's chair while he looks at his laptop with info on the baby I'm smiling and making small talk. Then a long bit of silence... "Baby is about a pound 5 ounces" he says without looking at me. I smiled and commented on how tiny that seems. He then proceeds to ask me how big Noah was.

"8 pounds, 6 ounces", I reply.

"Hmmmmm...." he says, still studying the laptop and tapping the screen with a pointer. Long silence.

"Is that ok?" I ask with a bit more concern than before.

"Well, I'm happy to see the baby is still in the 10th percentile for growth. We'll need to schedule another ultrasound for 28 weeks."

"And what if the baby is still at 10th percentile?" I ask again.

"If its still at the 10th percentile, that is fine....anything below that then we will START TO WORRY."

Obviously, I am emphasizing those last three words in this post...he didn't quite shout them at me or tell me to start worrying now. However, when your doctor says the words "hmmm..." and "then we'll start to worry" all in the same appointment about your unknown, unborn child, well, I'm going to start to worry now!

I left feeling a little taken aback and more frustrated that I didn't ask more questions. However, I don't want to worry about something that isn't even there. Of course I did the only natural thing any woman would do as soon as she got home with confusing news about the size of her fetus...I got on Google and did a little more research on "small fetuses" or "fetus' in the 10th percentile". A lot of medical mumbo-jumbo later I felt a little more at peace that perhaps my little peanut (actually my little "papaya"...that's how big it is supposed to be now) will just be that...little! I did see words like "complications", "death", and "difficulties" in some of the articles for babies below the 10th percentile, so yes, I'm a bit concerned as any normal parent would be.

So throwing this out there for some extra prayers that everything will be smooth sailing from here. October 17th (my next appointment) could not get here soon enough so I can have some peace of mind either way. In the mean time, I'll be praying for some extra contentment and trust that God is working everything out for our good. :-)