Our beautiful fat baby

We've just got back from the 36 week ultrasound. Everything is looking great. E3's estimated weight is 2.8kg, and estimated gestational age is 36wk 1day - just perfect. We got another 3D pic and the little darling is looking as beautiful as ever. He/she even gave us a sweet, fleeting little smile. LH is more convinced it is a boy from looking at the face but I really can't tell.

The sonographer and the doctor did an exhaustive search for the foetal veins to make sure they are not near the cervix and concluded that they are nowhere near there at all. It is getting really hard to see what's going on down there because E3 is taking up so much room. All the other parameters, such as umbilical cord flow, heartbeat and amniotic fluid volume are all fine.

As for the cervix, it has now shortened to 7mm, which is not unexpected at this stage. I guess some women have a dilated cervix at 36 weeks so I think I'm doing fine to have one that is still closed. The doctor said we can rest assured that if I do go into labour now, we don't have to be fearful about the foetal veins in the time it will take to get to the hospital.

He also suggested I stop taking the progesterone pessaries but Dr I yesterday told me to keep going with them. I think I will call him tomorrow to check.

So now we just have to wait. I'm betting that Dr I will decide the caesarian should be done at 38 weeks on November 5th but we will know for sure next week at the 37 week appointment. I feel so much more relaxed now, knowing that E3 has grown well over the last few weeks and everything looks fine. I had started to worry about things again and I feel much more calm now.

I could still go into labour at any stage but I feel like I can cope with it and everything will be fine. It would be great if E3 was planning to make his entrance into the world near when we decide to take him out. It seems that babies do best when they are ready to come out but of course there's no way of knowing when that will be.