34 weeks, 3 days.

So when the ultrasound tech asks you to guess how big your baby is, it means she's huge. She asked us to guess this afternoon, and I'd read up on my What to Expect of the week and knew 34 weeks en utero means about a 4 and 3/4 pound baby. I guessed 5 and half, because Adelyn's always measured a little big. Jason guessed 6, because he thought he was being funny.

6 pounds. 9 ounces.

SIX POUNDS! As in, yeah, I know the ultrasound measurements can be off by a pound either way, but even if it's a pound too high she'd still be almost a pound ABOVE AVERAGE. And if it's a pound off in the other direction, I don't even want to know what that means for me and my body a few weeks from now.

The main concern with Crohn's patients in pregnancy is growth restriction. And now I'm super excited to bring the ultrasound picture to my appointment with my gastroenterologist next week and rub it in his face, he who told me I wouldn't make it to 34 weeks because Crohn's patients deliver early, he who told me my baby would probably be born at around 5 pounds, because Crohn's patients have smaller babies, he who told me I'd have trouble putting on enough weight to support the pregnancy (I have 25 extra pounds so far that say otherwise), he who looked at me like I was crazy when I told him I was pregnant.

We also found out today that she's finally turned head down. So I can't really say for sure if she did that just because she's a smarty or because I've been playing her music down near the target area hoping she'd swim toward it, but she's assumed the position either way.

And now we wait. 34 weeks, 3 days.

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27 weeks, 3 days.

When we said her name at the doctor's office this morning she turned her face toward us.

Jason, the ultrasound tech, and I kept our eyes fixated on the screen, all of us repeating her name. With each "Adelyn" it became clearer that she could hear us, her mom, her dad, speaking to her. She opened and closed her eyes and her mouth, kicked her bony arms against the wall holding her in, looking desperate to get out, to stretch out and be free. Three more months--I hope--and she will be.

Getting ultrasounds has been by far the most amazing and strangest part of this pregnancy. Feeling her move is significant, yes, but watching a tiny hand push against your uterus while you feel that bump under your skin is entirely different story.

And each time we go, I feel that familiar sense of worry and panic. Growing up with a malfunctioning body will do that to you--make you distrust your insides. And being pregnant is the ultimate test of letting go of control. Your body is doing all the work. Your body is growing those bones and that heart and that liver and those lips and eyes, and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it but wait.

My malfunctioning body has defied my expectations over and over with this pregnancy. Not only is Adelyn growing just fine--the main concern for patients' with Crohn's disease--she's big. Two pounds, 11 ounces at 27 weeks. That puts her in the 78th percentile for her size. Even though ultrasounds usually make every body part look like pure bone--often lacking flesh--I saw a glimpse of chub on her still miniscule cheeks. She's perfect. And judging by one of our ultrasound pictures, she's already giving Angelina Jolie a run for her pouty-lipped money.

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