Prenatal Appointment #4

Had another appointment last night. No blood work this time! Just a normal appointment.

• BP was 100/70 (We were talking about hospital birth while she checked my BP and she said she could tell it stresses me to think about it and it raised my BP! :-P Go figure…)
• We heard the heart beat as usual. :) Emily was awake this time so she got to hear it too!
• Still measuring perfectly!

My midwife did some belly-mapping and drew a picture of the baby in the position he/she was in during our appointment. She called it an “ultrasound.” hehe :) This is my preferred version of an ultrasound which avoids all the unnecessary risks of non-medically-indicated ultrasounds. I’ve found experienced midwives to be far more accurate than ultrasound at determining size/weight/fluid levels anyway, plus she can tell you with no doubt exactly what position the baby is in so there is no reason I’d need an ultrasound! There’s just no indication for it. The good news is that baby is head down! However, she said that there is still plenty of room in there for baby to do some more flipping around so it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re head-down for the remainder. But we can hope! My gut instinct (no pun intended) says we’re head-down for good and I really hope I’m right.

Other than that, there wasn’t much to discuss. We talked about my most annoying pregnancy symptom (awful heartburn/reflux) and possible solutions (natural digestive enzymes/meal portions/meal spacing/diet etc). She prefers I avoid all over-the-counter reflux medications (they aren’t good for the placenta or the baby) and I prefer to avoid them as well so we are in agreement there. I just have to be more disciplined and pay closer attention to what I eat, and what to avoid, and spacing so that the approved remedies will have a chance to work! I will be happy even if they even put a dent in the discomfort- just enough to get me through the last weeks of this pregnancy!

For breakfast this morning I had THE juiciest and most delicious organic cantaloupe I have ever had the pleasure of tasting and since breakfast I’ve had ZERO heartburn for the first time in…. days/weeks? I can’t even remember. It’s been a while. So cantaloupe is a definite YES for my diet! Too bad melons are going out of season soon! Ack!

Now I’m off to brew up some pregnancy tea and take my prenatal vitamin plus all my other supplements while I happen to be thinking about it. Placenta brain is not good for remembering these things… :-P