Reassured

Last night, after dinner, I sat down on the couch. Usually that's the time when my baby decides to start disco dancing, so I was well prepared for that, or at least a case of the hiccups. That didn't happen however. I didn't feel anything. I started to think when I had last felt the baby, and that's when I started to worry. I couldn't remember feeling the baby all afternoon. Not when I laid down for my nap, not while I sat on the couch. And I usually feel the baby as soon as I sit down.

One of the things my midwife had told me on Monday, was to call if I didn't feel the baby as much as I had before, considering the bloodpressure and traces of protein. So - rather stressed out - I called M, who was on his way back from a trade fair in Amsterdam and of course was stuck in traffic. He told me to call the midwife, who asked me to come in to the office right away.
So I walked over to the in-laws (who live down the street) and my mother-in-law took me to the midwife's. Thank goodness she found a very strong heartbeat, so that was nice. My blood pressure was through the roof (understandably, considering my stress) but the traces of protein in my urine were gone. M came in right when she told me she wanted me to go to the hospital for a CTG, just in case.

So we went to the hospital and I was hooked up to a machine. They took my blood pressure again, and took a 30 minute CTG. The hospital midwife told me it looked like a happy baby, and it showed lots of movements. The weird thing was that I still hadn't felt anything. She made an ultrasound which also showed a moving baby. I just didn't feel it. That's why she called in the ob/gyn. The ob/gyn also made an ultrasound and took a lot of time for us. We got a very good view, we even saw the baby's face. He/she was sucking his/her thumb! She told me that the baby had dropped nicely and that I probably didn't feel anything because the placenta was very close to the baby's arms and legs. So if it moves a little, it's cushioned by the placenta, and that's why I don't feel it. Apparently it had turned around recently, because its position was different than last week.

She measured a few body parts. The baby has a big head (which all people in my side of the family do, hats never fit me) and long legs (like my husband). The growth was equivalent of a 38 week baby (and I was 37 weeks and 1 day). She measured it at 3 kilos, or 6 lbs 10 oz. Both the ob/gyn and the midwife told me it will be a "healthy big baby".
All in all I'm glad I went in. I wouldn't have slept at all, and I was getting so stressed out. It cost us an hour and a half but definitely reassured us all was fine. I don't even have to in to the midwife's again today, because they tested me so thoroughly last night. Phew!