Last week, I had my second appointment with the OB here and also met his wife, who is the midwife. The midwife did part of my appointment and the doctor did the other part. I was sure this appointment couldn’t be as long as last time, but I was wrong, it was 2 hours long again, although most of it was not spent in the waiting room this time.

The first thing they had me do was lie down with a heartbeat monitor and what I assume was a contraction monitor. Apparently this is a normal test here for 24 weeks along. Instead of just listening to the heartbeat, they hooked me up to the monitor and I had to stay there for probably about 30 minutes. At least it was relaxing. The baby’s heart-rate (when the baby cooperated and didn’t move away from the monitor) started out running around 140 bpm, but towards the end I started feeling all sorts of little kicks and punches and movements and the heart-rate went up to 150. Either way, perfectly normal. The other monitor showed no change, so I assume that means I am having no contractions.

Then they did the normal weight and blood pressure checks. When I came home I converted my weight from kg to pounds to see how much I weigh now. I kind of wish I had just left it in kg, it sounds so much better. 🙂 I don’t have a good record of my weight before, but I think I’ve gained about 15 lbs, which I suppose isn’t too bad. I don’t feel like I’ve been noticeably gaining, so I guess I should just be content that things are progressing as they should.

After another short wait, the doctor was ready to see me. He checked my cervix length again and said it was way over the recommended thickness, so no chance of preterm labor. He did another ultrasound as well and the baby looked great. He/she is still breech, but that isn’t worrisome at this point. I think it is funny that they do this since I don’t believe it can be terribly accurate, but the doctor took the ultrasound measurements and gave me an estimate of the baby’s weight and length. According to his estimate the baby weighs about 1.5 lbs and is almost 12 inches long. Again, I don’t think that is a terribly accurate way to measure it, but if he’s close, the baby is normal size for this point in the pregnancy (although possibly a bit short, but as we know there are obviously some short genes in my family).

We discussed Emma’s problems again and the doctor has decided that he would really like me to go get a specialized ultrasound to check the heart. Today we got a good look at all 4 chambers and he said he can almost guarantee there are no large heart defects. But he would feel better having a specialist do a better ultrasound to rule out the possibility of the same heart issues Emma had. I’m not worried about it, but I am willing to go to Freiburg to get the ultrasound if insurance will cover it, which they say they will. So on Thursday I’ll be venturing out with the boys on an adventure in Freiburg using both public transportation and our feet. Too bad it’s going to be cold that day.

P.S. I’ll try to get a better pregnancy photo to show, but this one will have to do for now. Plus now you can see my wonderful maternity jacket that I was able to find here.