Fall has arrived, and I am SO happy about it.

Back when I was a midwestern girl, fall arriving meant that it was about to get insanely cold and dark all the time, so other than the fact that I liked school, fall arriving was not good.

Here in the south, summer is 95 degrees and 90% humidity. The end of that is ALL good.

Now the weather is cool in the morning when I go outside to pick up the paper, and warms up to just a little bit hot if I step outside in the early afternoon.

Yesterday, I met with a different midwife for a checkup, and she congratulated me on making it through the summer without swelling. I liked her immediately.

My doctor’s office has 3 midwives and 3 doctors, and I’m required to see all of the midwives at least once before Lil Smudge is born. Yesterday’s midwife was described by one of my friends as "the mother hen" of the office — and I totally understand why. The other one I’ve seen is much more "the little chickadee" — young, high energy, slightly distracted.

It was a good visit — she’s happy with my weight gain, blood pressure, and the tape measurements of my growing belly.

Lil Smudge’s heartbeat was harder to find than the last couple of times. We could hear *lots* going on in there, and she joked and coo’d "settle down." Apparently there’s a whole athletic regimen happening while Lil Smudge still has room to swim around and do fancy flip moves. But a minute or so into looking, the heartbeat came in loud and clear.

Next week, the Big Ultrasound. I can hardly wait!

We know from the last Big Ultrasound and blood tests that we are not high risk for Down Syndrome or any of the other big genetic scary possibilities, but this ultrasound will take all that data to a whole new level.

Plus, Lil Smudge probably doesn’t look much like a smudge any more. These are the ultrasounds where it starts to look a lot like there’s a blurry grey baby in there.

Fall has arrived, and I am SO happy about it.

Back when I was a midwestern girl, fall arriving meant that it was about to get insanely cold and dark all the time, so other than the fact that I liked school, fall arriving was not good.

Here in the south, summer is 95 degrees and 90% humidity. The end of that is ALL good.

Now the weather is cool in the morning when I go outside to pick up the paper, and warms up to just a little bit hot if I step outside in the early afternoon.

Yesterday, I met with a different midwife for a checkup, and she congratulated me on making it through the summer without swelling. I liked her immediately.

My doctor’s office has 3 midwives and 3 doctors, and I’m required to see all of the midwives at least once before Lil Smudge is born. Yesterday’s midwife was described by one of my friends as "the mother hen" of the office — and I totally understand why. The other one I’ve seen is much more "the little chickadee" — young, high energy, slightly distracted.

It was a good visit — she’s happy with my weight gain, blood pressure, and the tape measurements of my growing belly.

Lil Smudge’s heartbeat was harder to find than the last couple of times. We could hear *lots* going on in there, and she joked and coo’d "settle down." Apparently there’s a whole athletic regimen happening while Lil Smudge still has room to swim around and do fancy flip moves. But a minute or so into looking, the heartbeat came in loud and clear.

Next week, the Big Ultrasound. I can hardly wait!

We know from the last Big Ultrasound and blood tests that we are not high risk for Down Syndrome or any of the other big genetic scary possibilities, but this ultrasound will take all that data to a whole new level.

Plus, Lil Smudge probably doesn’t look much like a smudge any more. These are the ultrasounds where it starts to look a lot like there’s a blurry grey baby in there.