Galloping

My 28-week prenatal appointment was yesterday, and it was a very good, informative appointment. It was just basic--talk to the midwife, listen to the baby's heartbeat, measure the fundal (uterus) height, get blood drawn--but it went very well for the following reasons:

1. Piglet's heart rate is a perfect 145. Also, when we were listening to it on the Doppler, at first it just sounded like the usual whooshing of blood pumping, and then suddenly the sound changed to a lot more like galloping horses, which we have never heard before. So I asked the midwife what was up and she said she managed to pick up not just the blood pumping but the actual opening and closing of the heart valves, which is what makes that galloping noise. It was awesome.

2. My weight gain is right on track, and my blood pressure is great. Not to say that neither of those things will get out of control at some point, but for now they are awesome and that is a great start.

3. When the midwife was measuring the fundal height, she pressed on my pelvic bone a bit and I flinched. Then she asked if the pressure had hurt, and I said not exactly, but it was definitely tender. She asked if it had ever been tender in the past when I'd had the fundal height measured and I said no. She said that's great--it means that my pelvic ligaments and bones are softening and loosening up in preparation for birth. I asked if it wasn't a bit early for that, and she said no, and sometimes it starts much earlier than this, even in the first trimester. So that was great to hear--like my body might have an end point in sight, and at some point the baby will actually exit my body. I mean, I know intellectually that that will happen, but it's good to know that my body appears to be on the same page.

4. Since I have a negative blood type and Torsten has a positive blood type, I got a RhoGAM shot, which I have heard is typically administered in the butt, but mine was in the arm and it didn't hurt at all.

5. My bloodwork came back beautifully--my thyroid is exactly where it should be, so I don't have to change Synthroid doses, and I am not even close to being anemic. I also don't have hepatitis C, shockingly. (They are required to test for hepatitis C if you are hoping to do a water birth; they can't let you in the tub if they don't have a negative hepatitis C test on file.)

6. The midwife gave me information about kick counting. You're supposed to feel at least 10 kicks in a two-hour window. I started counting on the way home, and Piglet kicked 10 times within three minutes.

The appointment didn't go perfectly for the following reason:

1. The midwife wants me to do another gestational diabetes test. It's scheduled for later this morning. At my 24-week appointment, a different midwife told me that since my three-hour glucose test at 21 weeks was negative, I didn't have to re-test. This midwife disagreed; she said the negative test at 21 weeks only proved that I didn't have GD at that point, not that I haven't developed it since then. Given that glucose levels normally peak between 24 and 28 weeks, it's possible that I've developed GD since then. Since my glucose levels were totally normal at 21 weeks, and my understanding is that GD develops gradually rather than suddenly coming on one day out of nowhere, I am not too concerned about it, but it's better to be sure, so I scheduled another test. I will do the one-hour test again even though I failed it last time; it seems worth a shot so that if I do happen to pass it this time, I can avoid doing another three-hour test. My hopes aren't high, though. Boo. Let's just hope I don't actually have diabetes, whether it takes a one- or three-hour test to find that out.

Still, on balance, a great appointment. And now I have the rest of my prenatal appointments scheduled, all the way up to 41 weeks. It's like there's really going to be a baby or something.