How Sprout is holding up through all of this

I know he is foremost in many of your minds (and that's the way it should be -- he is certainly foremost in mine!), so I thought I'd throw out the stats as they've most recently stood.

We had an ultrasound in Maternal Fetal Medicine this past Wednesday. I had been sure to grill Dr. Gibbs at my Tuesday appt. about what we should be looking for as far as measurements and weight, etc. He was very careful to remind me that the estimated weight didn't matter nearly as much as his measurements matching up with themselves (his head, belly, fundal height, etc. all need to be on pace with each other). Despite this warning, however, I knew that 5 lbs. was the magic number to see.

No such luck. Sprout tipped the scale at 4 lbs. 13 oz. (So, yes, almost there.) His growth has continued to slow down. His weight now puts him in the 14% -- which, to my mother's heart, is much too close to the 10%-mark that indicates IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) -- and he is measuring about 3-4 weeks behind the average fetus of his gestational age. BUT. The good news is that all of him is measuring behind, which is what Dr. Gibbs had stressed to me.

I would imagine that even though I'm in the hospital, I'll still be having the weekly ultrasounds to monitor his growth (not that there is a whole lot of time left to be squeezing these in!) and to make sure he gains at least a handful more ounces.

The nurses keep having my clarify if I've had any steroids...I wish they would stop asking, because, no, I haven't had the steroids in question (the ones that would accelerate Sprout's lung development), and I'm starting to wonder if I should ask for them. Usually, 36w is the benchmark by which it is assumed a fetus' lungs are ready for the outside world, and, thankfully, I am 36w today. However, due to Sprout's teeny tiny size, they are estimating that there is only a 50/50 chance his lungs would be ready if we had to deliver now.

Dr. Gibbs was not on call this weekend, so I actually have not spoken with him in several days. I'm not sure if he is around today, or if I'll have to wait until Monday to discuss all of this with him. In the meantime, I'm as comfortable and at peace as I can be, just waiting.