Chuck took the day off from work today so that he could join Nicky and me for our anatomical ultrasound this morning. When we went for the same thing when I was pregnant with Nicky, they only had the little monitor to look at, so I was on my back and really uncomfortable with a full bladder and couldn’t concentrate on or enjoy the first photos. Since then, however, they’ve installed a huge flat-panel monitor on the wall across from the exam table, so I could look right at everything, which was really great! We got some great views of the head, hands, and abdomen – don’t worry, we turned away while she measured the legs. We didn’t want to chance seeing anything we didn’t want to!
I posted a couple of photos and a minute-and-a-half-long video here. The photos weren’t great, but there’s a good feet-shot in the video.
Right after the ultrasound, I had my regular office visit with Dr. Kerpelman. Turns out, they had me at 22 pounds under my pre-pregnancy weight before I got pregnant again, and I’m now up 21 pounds. It’s a bit discouraging, but I’m not even back to where I was and I’m more than halfway through now, so the weight gain should slow down from here on out (especially since I’ve starting exercising regularly again). Dr. Kerpelman confirmed that everything looked good on the ultrasound and listened for the baby’s heartbeat again, which we heard. I mentioned to her that I have been feeling lots of movement – much more than I remember feeling with Nicky at this point. She said that it’s normal with a second pregnancy, but a little unusual in my case because the placenta is in the front (I had no idea where the placenta was with Nicky). I must be growing a very strong baby in there! Before she left the room, Nicky sang a little bit of “Copacabana” for her, which she loved!
Our next visit will be in four weeks, at which we’ll schedule the C-section (first appointment of the day!) and get me ready for the glucose tolerance test later that week. Until then, I just keep growing the baby. 