6th Prenatal Appointment - 28 Week Ultrasound - Biophysical Profile and Glucose Screening

So this week Baby Mac passed with flying colors!  Because he has a two vessel cord, they consider this pregnancy high-risk, and thus have begun assessing me monthly and now bi-weekly with a test called the biophysical profile.  The biophysical profile is an ultrasound exam that measures fetal well-being by testing four criteria.  Each criterion is assigned a score of 2 if met (within 30 minutes) -- if not, a score of 0 is assigned.  The following criteria are assessed during the scan:

• Amniotic fluid levels
• Fetal breathing
• Fetal tone (the full extension of a limb such as an opening and closing of a hand)
• Gross body movements (two or three episodes of movement such as squirming or kicking).

Baby Mac received an 8/8 or 100%.  He is on his way to becoming an A+ student :)  In fact, he was squirming and kicking around so much, we couldn't get clear photos at times!

Speaking of photos, Prince George of Cambridge was born this week!  He sure received a lot of attention and it was heartwarming to see the Prince and Princess present their first born son to the world.  It made me very excited for our little prince!

Our little Prince at 28 weeks in utero!

This was also the week I took the glucose test to determine whether or not I had diabetes.  I guess many women get diabetes during pregnancy - but I just received my test scores back and am fine.  I do not have diabetes.  So it was a good week for Baby Mac and me!  

First Chiropractic Appointment

After MONTHS of serious, painful, lower back pain, I finally got an appointment with a prenatal chiropractor, upon my doctor's recommendation.  As soon as the chiropractor examined me, she exclaimed, "I can't believe you've gone this long without seeing me, you must be in constant pain!"  YES.  I am.  Finally someone confirmed I was not going crazy.  She said my lower back is soooo tense its literally like a rock.  She said its rare actually, in pregnant woman, to hold so much pain in that one spot. Normally, the pain is distributed across the front of the pelvis too.  In my case, I have no frontal pain, just back pain.  Anyway, she adjusted me and told me I need to come back in two days for another adjustment!  She said she needs to see me often in the next few weeks just to feel normal again - then we can do biweekly visits.  I'm hoping this is going to work...

In other news, Princess Kate delivered the Prince of Cambridge today - its a Boy!  She better not steal one of our top names though....I do not want people thinking we copied her!  Looking forward to the arrival of our little Prince. Who knows, maybe he and Prince of Cambridge will be buddies some day :)

Prenatal Yoga

For months, I've experienced severe lower back pain, and didn't really know why.  It started when I wasn't even big, probably around 16 weeks.  After reading up on it, it sounds like my groin/pelvic muscles are becoming less stiff and more squishy to allow a baby to come through, so in turn, those muscles don't support my back as much, or the growing baby and uterus.  After complaining and complaining about this ailment to everyone, one friend finally suggested I go to prenatal yoga and a chiropracter.  She said that she was a regular at both during her pregnancies and they helped her through all her soreness.

Since then, I've gone to prenatal yoga twice, and after the first class I was sold.  I felt amazing!  Literally all my ailments were gone instantly.  I didn't feel any back pain for a good 24-48 hours after class!  Although I wasn't a big fan of yoga pre-pregnancy because it was so slow, now the slow, concerted, stretching movements targeting all my sore muscles are exactly what my body craves.

My second class was last night, and I seriously couldn't believe that my yogi was able to get me in a headstand, at 27 weeks!  It felt great to be inverted.  I'm not sure how baby Mac felt about it, as he was kicking and punching me all the way home from class.  Needless to say, the headstand definitely woke him up.

My first appointment with the prenatal chiropractor is next week, so I'll let you know how that helps!

I saw the baby kick!

As I was waking up this morning, I laid on my side and felt the baby kicking.  I've been feeling him move around a ton but haven't seen anything, until now!  What an amazing sight it was to see little jabs come out of my stomach!  There really is a baby in there!

25 Weeks Pregnant (Photo)

25 weeks

5th Prenatal Appointment - 25 Week Ultrasound

At our 21 week anatomy scan, the ultrasound technician wasn't able to clearly see Baby Mac's heart and legs in the 30 minute appointment, so I went back today to finish the anatomy scan.  As you may remember, we also learned of the 2 vessel cord at the 21 week scan, so I was very nervous about the appointment and had nightmares galore leading up to today.

Thankfully, we learned that the baby's heart looks good, with all four chambers clearly visible, and his legs and feet are properly growing and in tact.  I kept on waiting for some bad news or anomolies, but the doctor assured me things were going well as far as we know.

The only thing that concerned me is that baby Mac is measuring at the 47th percentile in growth where as four weeks ago he was at 72nd percentile.  I got worried that this means his growth is slowing down which is something the doctor looks for with the 2 vessel cord, but the doctor assured me that at this point, he is still very normal and average, and that they see these differences in all babies and there is nothing to worry about yet.  I will however receive more frequent ultrasounds until I deliver to monitor growth to make sure he is still cutting the mark every month.   Good news is he doubled in size since last month.  

I'm not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing but his head is BIG!  Its measuring at the 90th percentile.  The Ultrasound technician said that boys across the board have bigger heads, and that this is also nothing to worry about and she is sure he will be fine.  I hope this means he will be a smarty pants!

A few glamour shots of our boy from this week:

Baby looking straight on, you can only see his nose and mouth. 

Baby foot. 

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