Another excellent visit

From 31 weeks

Maia and I went to see our midwife, Heather, today, and it was yet another lovely trip. These appointments with Maia are such a pleasure; I'm enjoying them so much more than I did my appointments during my first pregnancy. I'm generally much more relaxed and anxiety-free, and I'm feeling stronger and healthier in general this time around, too, so perhaps that's why I'm feeling this difference. (My blood pressure is still really low, and even in this heat I'm not having any swelling.) It's also so very fun to have Maia there.

Today, Maia ran the show with the Doppler again. She moved it around on my belly and even found baby's heartbeat (in the 140s) with the midwife's help. :) Then, after my check was done, Maia laid down on the exam table and Heather checked her belly with the Doppler; Maia got to hear the slower "woosh-woosh" of the blood moving through her own abdominal veins. SO cool!

I was pretty certain that Baby G has been head-down for a week or so now, and that was confirmed today. I have feet and a butt in my ribs, a curved baby back off to my right side, and a head down near my pelvis. Heather taught me how to feel for the wiggly solidness of baby's head; as a doula, doing this type of physical exam is most definitely not in my scope of practice, so I've not had the chance to feel this before. It was really cool--baby's head is solid and hard, of course, but it moves when you put pressure on it externally because of the neck. Baby's butt, although it has a similar roundness to the head, doesn't wiggle in the same way. So amazing!

So, I'm 31 weeks along now, and I'll be going back in another month (35 weeks). By then, I'll have decided whether or not I'm going to do the GBS test, and I'll know if my low-lying placenta has done what I deeply hope it to do and moved its way up and out of the way.