Friday, January 10, 2014

Ultrasound!

The ultrasound went great! It was amazing to see our sweet baby moving around on the screen.  The kids were interested for a minutes but they really couldn't decipher the images on the screen so they got a bit bored.  The placenta is anterior, but above the cesarean scars so that's good for now.  Baby is measuring 21 weeks 3 days and that correlates perfectly with my calculated ovulation date.  By LMP I'm 21 weeks 5 days, so no issues at all.  Everything is looking great so far and I really hope that this ultrasound eases some of my anxiety.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Finally! An ultrasound is scheduled!

Since I'm using the midwives locally ultrasounds are bit hard to come by.  The midwives are minimalists when it comes to these things and they only require one ultrasound near the end of pregnancy.  They do work with the local community college's sonography program for the 20 week anatomy ultrasound, but it is not a required or even suggested thing. Just an option.  I have been trying to get in touch with the college since my 16 week appointment on December 2nd with no luck.  This week I've been getting their holiday OGM that says they are closed from December 13th through the 1st and says to call back on the 2nd. Well its the 9th now and I still haven't been able to get in touch with anyone.  I've called and called and left at least a dozen messages.

On December 23rd I found out there is a new elective 3D/4D place to open in January and made an appointment for the 9th. I've since waffled over whether I want to keep the appointment or not.  Hubby said that if we are getting a fancy ultrasound we might as well find out the sex.  What? We had decided to keep that a surprise!! Okay. Well even that I can get past, but what I can't get past is that the elective place can not legally tell me anything remotely medical.  It is only to look at your baby and find out the sex, nothing more. That isn't what I wanted.  I wanted to know if baby is okay and where my placenta is placed etc.  Therefore, I've been considering and reconsidering this elective ultrasound, all the while still trying to get in touch with the college.

Last night I finally decided that since this place isn't going to tell me what I really want to know that I would cancel.  I decided to keep trying the college, but if I couldn't get in touch with them, I'd just wait till the 36 week ultrasound.  This is a little upsetting because I'd love to see my baby and I'd love to have the information that a medical ultrasound could give me.  But, having made my decision, I called the 3D place and cancelled my appointment.  I had a nice chat with the woman on the phone, who was super sweet and understanding, so I will be recommending them to anyone interested in doing a 3D u/s. Then I decided to try and see if I could find a different number for the sonography department.  After a little bit of digging I found one.  And someone answered that line!! And I got an ultrasound scheduled for tomorrow (January 10th) in the morning!! I'm thrilled! The only thing is that Hubby might not get to be there since he is working.  He is going to try to be there, but it'll be a challenge for sure.  If he doesn't go, I will definitely stick to my guns about not finding out the sex.  If he's there and wants to know, as I imagine he will, then we may end up finding out.  We'll see how it goes!

Monday, January 6, 2014

Appointment 3, Things are looking good!!

So I've been feeling pretty down about everything lately.  I don't feel a great deal of movement at 21 weeks along. Way less movement than I felt with my previous two.  With them I was seeing movement on the outside of my belly by this point, but this time I feel flutters a few times a day, but they are faint, low and infrequent.  I may have an anterior placenta, I know. This seems to be the general consensus from everyone I've spoken to about it, including the midwife.  I have outrageous heartburn, so bad that it makes me vomit and when that happens it feels like fire coming back up. Just awful.  I'm also struggling with drinking enough water. It still makes me nauseous, especially if I drink it with a meal.

However, after my appointment today, I feel so much better! She had trouble getting the heartbeat on the doppler, but because the baby was obviously moving that much and seemed to be hiding from the doppler. When she finally pinned the baby down long enough to get a reading the heartbeat was a very strong one at 160bpm.  The baby seems to be doing just fine.  My BP is great and steady.  I've had the same reading the last 3 appointments at 118/76 and everything just seems to be right on track!!

I have a 3D ultrasound appointment scheduled for the 9th that I am seriously considering cancelling now. They legally cannot tell me anything about anything except the gender of the baby, which we don't want to know.  I'm going to try to get an appointment with the local college again since they can tell me fluid levels and placenta placement and all that.  I also asked if a MW would accompany me in the event of a hospital transfer and she said yes and the MW would bring all my prenatal records too.  She also said the try to avoid the nearest hospital that is very close to the center, unless its an immediate life threatening emergency.  If its a transfer and time permits, they transfer to a hospital 20 minutes away, which is a much better hospital when it comes to childbirth.  I was relieved to hear that too!  So great appointment and I'm feeling pretty positively about it all right now!