24 week appointment

The prenatal appointments have finally started to feel routine, thank goodness, but they are still very exciting! Everything looked good yesterday, the midwife said I was measuring exactly on target. I've always wondered how the measurements are taken and how it's even possible to have targets, being that there are so many different belly shapes, and so many different ways to carry. Well, it turns out that they are actually measuring the size of the uterus, which can easily be felt by pressing gently on the belly... amazing stuff!

We found out more about our peanut's sonogram results too. The baby was estimated to be about 14 oz at that point, four weeks ago, which means it should be well over a pound and a half by now. She also told us that they want to do another sonogram at about 30-32 weeks to take a second look at a couple of things. They weren't able to get a clear enough picture of the four chambers of the heart during the first sonogram, probably because the baby was moving around so much. It's not uncommon, and doesn't signify a problem. In fact, some of the pregnant women I've talked to online are having repeat sonograms for the same reason, or to take second looks at mouths and noses. Also, they will check the position of the placenta. It is considered "low-lying" which means it's connected to the bottom of my uterus. The midwife said it's not so low as to present a problem, but they still want to verify that it moves up as my uterus grows. I'm excited that we'll get to see the baby one more time, and honestly the only thing I'm nervous about is having another chance to accidentally find out the sex and ruin the surprise!

We heard the heartbeat again too, it was strong and fast as usual. The baby did not seem appreciate the intrusion this time though, and kicked the doppler so hard that it moved off the spot where the midwife was holding it, twice! That's our baby!