Prenatal Appointment- 24 Weeks

My 24 week appointment was last Tuesday. I was anxious going in because of a couple of things and I left feeling very much at ease, so it was a great appointment. I weighed in at 115.5 pounds this week.

At my last appointment, the midwife said my uterus felt small and we'd see if that was still the case at this appointment. I didn't think much of it at the time, but in the weeks that followed, I thought about it more and more, and I got more and more worried. I kept thinking that maybe that's why I hadn't felt any movement higher up. And then I thought maybe my uterus was just plain in there wrong because I couldn't feel anything on the left side. Yeah, I never worried at all during Clara's pregnancy.

Anyway, Melanie measured me and I was exactly on track, so that was a huge relief for me. It turns out, the other midwife had used my LMP date to figure my due date, so it was off. I have to remember to remind them of my dates being off each time so we don't have this problem again.

The night before I had had lots of bh contractions, so I asked her about them. She wasn't worried at all because I had overdone it that evening and hadn't drank enough. Also, she said lots of women get them more often during their 2nd pregnancy. She did tell me I could take calcium/magnesium tablets to ease them if they become bothersome. I guess I'm a little more concerned about them this time because I was 4 cm dilated with Clara and had only had my normal bh (that I knew of) until that point. I'm just worried I won't know if I'm having preterm labor. She went over the differences between bh and real contractions, so again I left feeling better.

I really do love the atmosphere at the birthing center. I always get right in and they don't have too many patients to handle, so I always have plenty of time to ask questions. The midwives listen to Clara ramble on about random things and take the time to show and explain to her what the baby looks like and I've never felt rushed at all. During my pregnancy with Clara, I would wait for an hour most times and then see the doctor for all of 3-4 minutes. When I did have questions, I felt rushed because I knew there were 10 other women out there that had also been waiting.

I then told Melanie that I hadn't had a tour of the birthing rooms yet. I should've had a tour in the beginning but somehow it got overlooked I guess. So she took me back to check it out. It's a house that's attached to the office by a hallway. There are two rooms that look just like a typical master bedroom, complete with a large tub for laboring in (and giving birth in if you choose).

There's also a full kitchen with a breakfast table. She said some people bring a frozen casserole with them to have afterwards, which is kind of cool, if you're all organized and stuff. I'm sure Chris will be bringing carryout back for us. And there's a living room with a tv and lots of kids movies, so you can have your children there if you'd like (with someone else to watch them of course). I'm getting really excited about this birth and can't wait to have this completely different experience.