We haven’t posted much over the past few months about the little girl that is set to join us shortly, and I got a little inspired while at the doctor’s office – for one of the million late-pregnancy visits – to record her heartbeat.

Let me digress for a sentence or three: things are physically progressing just fine. Emotions are another story all together, but that’s not what this post is for. This pregnancy has involved a ton of doctor visits, and a slew of testing that we haven’t experienced prior….and so far, everything is checking out great. Her size (growing big, like both Ezra and Liam), her physical attributes, her breathing, and her development are all right on track – and in some cases, pushing the higher end of the percentages.

The doctors are having us (read: Ahna) do a few more tests than would have normally been required – I think to put them at ease as much as it is supposed to put us at ease. That said, one of the tests is a twice-a-day kick count where the baby has to move in excess of 10 times within a two hour block. While on some level it’s a reassuring affirmative, on other levels it’s just another thing to get focused on and to worry about. Ahna is also having to go to the doctor’s office twice per week for non-stress-tests of the baby’s movement and heartbeat (thus the recording), which follow similar stresses as the kick counts. Granted, this is all for just a short time remaining, but the gray hairs are popping up a lot more these days.

Ahna has been a trooper – still working, still being a single parent when I am at work. Beyond the normal physical uncomfortabilities that surface this late in any pregnancy, some additional less-than-desirable experiences have returned, including nausea. These final days of the pregnancy are flying by, and the days are getting longer and the nights are getting shorter.

The picture from the ultrasound is supposedly of her mouthing her arm. The audio of the heartbeat was remixed using Ezra’s directorial guidance in post-production.