BABY KICK ALERT !!!

Dear Baby Beanie...

I must say the last visit to your doc was quite a fruitful one. Remember how she asked me if I felt your movements and I was not too sure. Well !! I am pretty sure now and I can feel you very prominently inside of me.

When I got back from the doctor's consultation visit, I kept thinking - the doc said I should feel you within a week - but then have I been feeling you and I don't know yet ? So I lay down for a while wanting to see if what I felt is real. They say in THE book that babies are most active when mom is lying down or resting. And yes indeed, I did feel something different and concluded it has to be you.

Then we got busy with your elder cousin's birthday celebrations and me with my work and stuff and I only got time to really feel you at night everyday. Sorry I could not spend much time with you. Also, I had to get some last minute stuff done - we are finally leaving for Mangalore - to your maternal grandmother's place. I was so excited that I went on a last minute spree on Saturday. We are leaving on Sunday (8th Sept) on the day of Gowri pooja. I went to my dentist, got my fillings redone - went for a grooming session - oh and also went to the hospital again to get your delivery package.

It  will be close to the end of 6th month (mid 6th month atleast) when I get back from Mangalore and then it would be too late to book your delivery package at Cloud Nine. The package includes a lot of freebies - a free antenatal workshop for me and DD, a free pre-natal workout session for me, a free baby shower for us and then there is also other stuff like a lucky draw and then they gave me some printouts about what I should get at the time of admission for YOU (baby) and ME (mom). There was also a insurance form that I need to fill in and keep ready for admission procedures to go smoothly.

Anyways, this post was about your movements - so I left on Sunday night to Mangalore. I was so excited and maybe so were you. After I came to Mangalore, I guess you grew a tough pair of arms and legs. I feel you kick so hard every day when I sit down to relax and every night when I lie down to sleep. You have become super active here - not sure whats the difference. Maybe you know that you are in a different environment or are excited to meet your grandparents but you sure are not quiet :)

DD is hoping to get to feel you better when we get back since we have been away from him for around 9 days now. We will be going back to Bangalore tonite (Sep 17th). DD will be waiting to receive us in the morning :)

- So

General Checkup at 22 weeks

Dear baby beanie,

We had our monthly checkup today. I am on 22 weeks now. More than half-way thru. Just 18 more weeks to go before I can see you. Finally got to hear your heartbeat over the hand-held doppler and we were overjoyed to hear it. It was super audible at the first try itself.

Doc asked if I could feel movements - she described them "butterfly-like". I said that I could feel something but I was not sure. Your dad joked "butterfly-nu illa yaava fly-nu illa" (roughly translating to  not just butterfly, there is not even a fly). However, doc said that I should start feeling movements in another week's time.

Some other updates are that I need to get my 2nd OGCT (Oral Glucose Challenge Test) and HIV test done before my next checkup. Other than that, doc said everything seems fine otherwise. Next checkup is on Oct 2nd.

Signing off until then,
- So

3rd Month NT Scan and 4th Month Checkup

Dear Baby Beanie,

The blog post for your 3rd month radiology scan has been long pending. So I am going to club it with this post.

Your 3rd month scan was on 9th July 2013. Me and DD were pretty excited to see your growth and we were pleasantly shocked at how much you had grown in just 1 month.

The cheerful doc was pretty patient as she continuously monitored your growth and measurements and noted down every single point. She measured your hands, legs, head, CRL etc., She even counted your tiny little fingers and toes and showed it to us. She allowed us to listen to your ever racing heart. It was a good time. I guess you were sleeping when the scan was going on, because the doc kept poking my belly to make you move. After a while you woke up and started moving.

The most joyful of all the moments was when you slowly moved your hand and put your thumb into your mouth. We were surprised that you could do such a thing even though you were just 3 months old. Right now you measure 59 mm (CRL). This scan was called an NT scan - which is conducted mainly to check for Nuchal Translucency. The scan measures the nuchal thickness which provides information about various autistic syndromes. In your case, the risk factor reduced by a whole lot after the scan and that put us to peace.

I had quite some more tests to undergo (because of my age - nearing 35), but thankfully all of them came out normal / negative. Oh and also, during the scan you were bigger by 2 days than calculated earlier - so my due date is 2 days earlier - now its 18th Jan 2014 instead of 20th Jan 2014 (which was diagnosed in the previous scan).

Our next appointment with the consulting doctor was on 7th August during which time, the doc tried to listen to your heartbeat using a handheld Doppler device. Apparently it was quite inaudible to her itself, so we couldnt hear you. She said the main reason could be that I was sporting a lot of belly fat - I wish I had exercised better :P She said there was no need to worry since the uterus had grown bigger since the last checkup and everything seemed normal, but just to ease our worries, the 5th month scan was scheduled earlier so she could see your progress and also ease our tensions at the same time.

Even though this scan is being conducted 15 days prior to the end of the 5th month, I still felt as though the last 2 weeks went by super slow. I am eagerly waiting to get the scan done today in order to see your growth once again and listen to the beautiful sound of your heartbeat yet again (btw, it always puts me to tears).

During this month, I have undergone quite a lot of problems. I had severe back aches, indigestion, acid reflux problems and also most recently since 2 days, a pressing tooth ache. Unfortunately, since your growth is more important right now, I am not allowed to get a surgery done on my teeth or anywhere else, because X-rays are dangerous to your growth. So I have to just make do with pain killers. Maybe during the end of the term or after your birth, Ill get my teeth corrected.

Meanwhile, I am super excited and at the same time super worried about this scan. I just want you to be safe and healthy and growing fast. I almost forgot to mention that I have started listening to Garbha Raksha Stotra and when I heard it for the first time, I am positively sure I could feel you move inside to the chants and mantras. Although I have never experienced it before, so I cannot tell for sure that it was you :) I have still no signs of very visible (or rather feelable) movements from you yet. So thats another cause for concern, but I am trying to be hopeful.

Just 1.5 hrs to go before my scan. This time, I want to eat something 30 mins before the scan. They say that babies are most active 30 mins after food intake - so lets hope to see some action from you :)

- So