medical science to the rescue

This morning I was as scared as I've been in years. After the aforementioned evening of hardly any kicking, we woke up this morning to, again, a motionless baby. We're supposed to feel a minimum of 10 kicks in two hours and from 7:30 to 9:30 we felt only one. Combine that with the fact that for the last several weeks Kirsten's belly has measured slightly below normal and that Kirsten has picked up some mean viruses and we seemed to have a confluence of bad signs.

We didn't want to be the type of parents who harass a doctor with every minor concern. On the other hand, if Baby Marcus is in trouble then it's Kirsten, David and medical science to the rescue!

At the doctor's office they strapped on a fetal monitor which charts Baby Marcus' heartbeat. Of course, as soon as she was being monitored, Baby Marcus started kicking up a storm. Her heartbeat was strong and "reactive", which is apparently important. Next we did an ultrasound, which showed that she is precisely normal...exactly in the 50th percentile in size. Not only that, she is practicing swallowing and breathing. She has the beginnings of a nice head of hair. And, in the middle of all this excitement, she gave a big yawn.

Thank you medical science and a big shout-out to our Ob/Gyn, Dr. DelPrete, for putting our mind at ease.