Today marks week 24 for little baby g! I have a few iphone apps that I use to track fetal development (Babycenter and What to Expect) and found it interesting to know that not only is the baby the size of a cantaloupe or the length of an ear of corn but also that my placenta is the size of a soccer ball! Feels like the jump from a grapefruit to cantaloupe is pretty significant (and maybe not entirely accurate) but I do think we are in the middle of a growth spurt!
Today also happened to be our 6 month appointment so I got some real baby measurements too. The appointment started with me having to chug the sugary drink to test for gestational diabetes. Dan sat with me and I think this is the first time he would have actually traded places with me. I guess normally getting blood drawn, exams and ultrasounds don't look very fun but he thought the "juice" smelled good. It wasn't as bad as I thought and I definitely recommend fruit punch over orange. I wasn't too worried about the results but sugar is the one thing I love. I hardly eat meat and if I do, its usually lean and I don't over salt or butter my foods but I rarely pass up a good piece of chocolate, a scone or homemade cookie.
During the hour waiting period I had an ultrasound. I do ultrasounds every 4 weeks because they are monitoring the baby's head size due to our family history. My sister had microcephaly and although they don't feel our baby is at any higher of a risk than the average, my doctor still recommends monitoring growth. I am okay with that and enjoy getting extra opportunities to hear his little heartbeat and see him wiggle around in my uterus. There was a moment however today when the technician paused and said she wanted a second opinion about the length of my cervix. I panicked and tried to read deeper into her body language to see if this was serious or not. She said the baby's head was right on top of my cervix and blocking the view so she wanted to do a vaginal ultrasound to see if the length was okay. I had no idea the length fluctuated (well at least not until delivery) and Dan and I were tempted to quick google it when she left the room for me to change. However, we refrained and had faith things would be okay- and all turned out to be fine. However, that little scare was enough for me to say some extra prayers tonight and be thankful all is well so far.
So, good news is that my cervix is the right length, I don't have gestational diabetes and little g is in the 55% weighing in at 1 lbs. 8 oz. We talked a little bit about my birth plans today and I asked for some recommendations about birthing classes and suggestions of what I can do now to prepare for a natural birth. She told me to keep exercising and she supports my running and yoga as long as I feel good. She said that will help so much during the birthing process. She also recommended we interview some dulas but she didn't push it and reminded me there will be a full team there to support me. She said her goal is to follow my birth plan and that we will make changes as needed but only if needed. I know a birth plan is simply that... a plan. My hope is to go without pain medications but I am also fully aware that the process is out of my control and 4 hours of labor feels a lot different than 24 hours!
After work today, I went to yoga and even though I was still annoyed the substitute teacher was emphasising twists and stomach poses, I just made a few changes, closed my eyes and imagined I was the only one in the studio. I also kept hearing the doctors reminder that yoga will help me prepare for birth. That new intention- getting stronger and staying fit for the delivery was a refreshing focus. Looks like baby g isn't the only one "growing" in this humble journey.
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| 24 weeks and the size of a cantaloupe! |
Today also happened to be our 6 month appointment so I got some real baby measurements too. The appointment started with me having to chug the sugary drink to test for gestational diabetes. Dan sat with me and I think this is the first time he would have actually traded places with me. I guess normally getting blood drawn, exams and ultrasounds don't look very fun but he thought the "juice" smelled good. It wasn't as bad as I thought and I definitely recommend fruit punch over orange. I wasn't too worried about the results but sugar is the one thing I love. I hardly eat meat and if I do, its usually lean and I don't over salt or butter my foods but I rarely pass up a good piece of chocolate, a scone or homemade cookie.
During the hour waiting period I had an ultrasound. I do ultrasounds every 4 weeks because they are monitoring the baby's head size due to our family history. My sister had microcephaly and although they don't feel our baby is at any higher of a risk than the average, my doctor still recommends monitoring growth. I am okay with that and enjoy getting extra opportunities to hear his little heartbeat and see him wiggle around in my uterus. There was a moment however today when the technician paused and said she wanted a second opinion about the length of my cervix. I panicked and tried to read deeper into her body language to see if this was serious or not. She said the baby's head was right on top of my cervix and blocking the view so she wanted to do a vaginal ultrasound to see if the length was okay. I had no idea the length fluctuated (well at least not until delivery) and Dan and I were tempted to quick google it when she left the room for me to change. However, we refrained and had faith things would be okay- and all turned out to be fine. However, that little scare was enough for me to say some extra prayers tonight and be thankful all is well so far.
So, good news is that my cervix is the right length, I don't have gestational diabetes and little g is in the 55% weighing in at 1 lbs. 8 oz. We talked a little bit about my birth plans today and I asked for some recommendations about birthing classes and suggestions of what I can do now to prepare for a natural birth. She told me to keep exercising and she supports my running and yoga as long as I feel good. She said that will help so much during the birthing process. She also recommended we interview some dulas but she didn't push it and reminded me there will be a full team there to support me. She said her goal is to follow my birth plan and that we will make changes as needed but only if needed. I know a birth plan is simply that... a plan. My hope is to go without pain medications but I am also fully aware that the process is out of my control and 4 hours of labor feels a lot different than 24 hours!
After work today, I went to yoga and even though I was still annoyed the substitute teacher was emphasising twists and stomach poses, I just made a few changes, closed my eyes and imagined I was the only one in the studio. I also kept hearing the doctors reminder that yoga will help me prepare for birth. That new intention- getting stronger and staying fit for the delivery was a refreshing focus. Looks like baby g isn't the only one "growing" in this humble journey.
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| Pumpkin "patch" visit this weekend |
My wife, Sara used to do yoga too when she was preggers. It was always fun to watch her in class. Glad to hear all is going well.
ReplyDeleteOh, and glad to hear your Cervix is the right length too. :-)
I had to drink a whole can of orange pop. That was a bit much in 10 minutes at 9 in the morning! So glad that you did not have to google cervix. A short cervix put me on bed rest with Timothy. But with good doctor care, even that turned out good. Timothy was healthy and full term. Lots of prayers going up for baby g and family from here in Iowa!
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