30 Weeks

I had an appointment with Dr. Reich the day after Christmas. It was just a quick appointment to check in on Henry. The doctor measured me and listened to Henry's hearbeat. I'm measuring right on track (although she did say that I'm carrying long - that is Henry's out of room moving up and needs to start moving out soon. Doubtful that will happen, though, since I never really carried Oliver very far out from my body either) and Henry's heartbeat is perfect. While she was listening to him, he moved and his heartrate accelerated. She said that's the sign of a baby with an intact central nervous system. That seems like really good news. 

Once again Dr. Reich seemed really pleased and surprised that I have continued to be "crazy stable" (as she put it). In two weeks I go back for another ultrasound to check the placement of the placenta. She said that if it has moved by then that we can talk about loosening some of my restrictions as far as bed rest is concerned. I won't be taken completely off of bed rest, though, because she's not sure that the bleeding was caused by the low-lying placenta. I've given up hope that I will get back to work before the baby is born but would love to hear that I can do a little more walking or something. The good thing about these appointments is that they remind me how serious of a complication we are dealing with here. As the weeks go by and nothing happens it's hard for my mind not to wander to thoughts of: "Is this bed rest thing really necessary?" Going to see the doctor and seeing how seriously she is taking this and how concerned she is with happened reminds me that I'm doing exactly what needs to be done. 

We were getting ready to leave when Brian remembered to ask her about my three hour glucose tolerance test. It had been over a week since I'd taken it and I hadn't heard the results. Truth be told I was glad I didn't get the results before Christmas. I didn't want to hear that I needed to drastically change my diet right before my mom arrived with German Chocolate Cake. Dr. Reich walked us out to her computer to see if she had the results. I passed! With flying colors apparently. Wasn't even close. Guess I was just having an "off" day during my one hour test. Brian and I high-fived and I said: "Yes! I'm going home to have some cake!" Dr. Reich said I did so well on the test, I should add some ice cream. I love my doctor. So glad not to have to tackle another major lifestyle change.