Perinatology and a Peak Inside

Today I had my first perinatology appointment. The fun part of this was that they did another ultrasound. Wow, how the baby has changed and grown! He/she looks so perfectly formed whereas just four weeks ago you could barely make out general head and body blobs. I could see the arms and legs, the cute little head and beautiful beating heart. The baby was quite active and moved all over the place. He/she was face up most of the time but also ended up on his/her tummy and stood straight up at one point. Davin and Desmond were both there and it was fun to show Desmond the baby in my tummy rather than just say it's there. I also think it's starting to sink in a little more for Davin that we have another child who will be keeping us up at night very soon.

I learned last time that my uterus is tilted to the back and it made it a little hard to get measurements today. We measured from lots of different angles and the consensus was that this baby is due sooner than the first ultrasound showed. The first ultrasound showed that I was due May 7th. Based on my last period I'm due May 2nd. Today the baby measured older still with a due date at the end of April. I'm very happy to see that baby has grown so much in the last four weeks! The heart medication I'm on can hinder growth, but so far this baby's trucking right along. The doctor decided to stick with the May 2nd date which works for me. I don't want to expect this baby too soon and have everyone (including myself) freak out when I go past my due date. But I also want to have a vaginal birth so baby, don't get too big!

The conclusion from today's visit was that baby and I are both healthy and should have a normal pregnancy. I won't have to see the perinatologist again unless something happens, but I do need to keep taking my heart medication. During labor the doctor also recommends that I get an epidural to help keep the stress on my body and heart lower. I'm not too bummed about that because I know from experience what heavenly pain relief there is in an epidural. Thankfully I'm not considered "high risk" although I'm on the edge and they want to keep an eye on the baby's growth. I'll probably have an ultrasound every six weeks or so to check up on things. The next ultrasound will probably be the big gender reveal. Boy or girl?

It's fun to compare pictures from last time to this time.