A very good day (including our 32 week check up!)

Today has been a wonderful day.

It's FINALLY starting to "cool down", which always makes me happy (for the record, "cool down" is lows in the low 60s and highs in the low 80s), so the day started well with a long walk for the Moosh. While out walking, a very sweet woman was walking with a friend, and as we passed each other, she looked at me and said "you look ADORABLE!". Caught me totally off guard and was incredibly kind. I was so caught off guard, I'm not even sure how I responded, so let this be the official thank you, you very sweet lady! :)

Baby girl's face: her right eye (closed), nose and big lips

We also had our 32 week check up this afternoon, which included our last (eek!) sonogram. I was so excited to see baby girl's face - it had been over 10 weeks - and holy cow was is wonderful. She looks like a baby, with chubby cheeks and HAIR! Our girl has a head of hair already! Her heart was beating at a fast 167 bpm, which the tech said is common since she was moving around so much. We got a great view of her head, face, tummy, heart chambers, a leg and a foot. We received confirmation she's head down (YAY!) and she's completely curled up like a "C", with her butt at my ribs and her feet by her head. She had her little hands up by her face almost the entire time, which makes me wonder if she'll inherit my penchant for thumb sucking. We got an estimate that she's right around 4 pounds, which puts her on track to be average to low average in birth weight based on her rate of growth...basically we're looking at a baby girl in the high 6's, low 7's, as "average" is 7 pounds 9 ounces. Perfection. Length is almost impossible to determine since she's all curled up, but we do know that her precious little foot is 2 inches long.
After the sonogram we met with our doc who also commented on how I should be basking in how this pregnancy has been treating me. "No swelling?! No veins protruding?! So you're the one the maternity stores make short skirts for!"

Profile: lips still looks like mom's, but doc thinks we'll have to
wait and see on the nose :)

My weight gain is at 16 pounds, and things are still looking great. We got a few questions answered but the best part came when doc listened to her heartbeat. She found it quickly and we listened for a second, but then I felt a big move to the ribs and her heart rate got noticeably faster. Dr. Castilla said that's a sign of fetal well-being - that a heart rate goes up when the baby moves. Or in other words, she's happy. I don't think I've ever heard sweeter news in my life. I can't help but feel proud for taking care of this girl, for staying calm and keeping stress low, eating healthy (most of the time) and getting exercise. It felt like that one comment from the doctor justified all the work I've been doing. My girl is happy and healthy.
She doesn't think we'll be pre-term, thankfully, but did confirm the menstrual cramp-like feelings I've been getting are Braxton-Hicks (apparently they feel different to everyone).

One more two week gap before our next appointment, and then we're into once a week appointments! This is getting very, very real, and I absolutely cannot wait to meet this incredible person growing inside me.

A huge thank you to daddy-to-be, who has attended every appointment but one through this entire process. Dr. Castilla seemed quite impressed and wanted to make sure it was noted in the baby book how involved he has been and continues to be. I'm a lucky, lucky girl.

Lookie at my tootsies!