The Fetus Kicking Project, Part II

Well, today was the day: Doppler came out, little heart did its pitter patter (and lots of bonus swishes, indicating she's flipping all over the place.)

Have I no nerve endings in my midsection that I can't feel this?

My doctor revealed the reason for my Stealth Baby: My misplaced placenta (aka, the Balloon of Life), is not only too close to the bottom (see previous 'Learning Latin' post), but it's also up front instead of in back (i.e., the normal location). Ready to be skeeved?


(Still there? Don't say I didn't warn you.)

Turns out the Balloon of Life (that which holds her oxygen and her lunch) is situated in front, right where she's kicking (I'm so seriously bad at interior design). She's still too little and not strong enough for me to feel her kick through the balloon-like padding she's got between her teeny foot and my belly.

In the 'Knocked Up' section of InterWeb (it's almost as big as the "Paying a Lot for Your Wedding" section), however, I learned that her little legs will be strong enough in the next month that I should be able to join the smug "Stop kicking me!" club and feel the full force of her babyhood jabbing me firmly in the gut.

Disturbing as that sounds. it will be a relief just to know she's ok--it's amazing how often I now find myself reading the warning: "If you haven't felt your baby kick all day, call your doctor; there's probably something wrong!"

(I need to stop reading the Internet, obviously.)

This isn't fair, of course, since I can't feel her at all. Just the little butterfly flutters. I think she's tickling me.

The C-Section yay-or-nay is still up in the air. I won't know for sure 'til 7 months – that's mid-April for those not counting weeks (like me and the rest of the baby wierdos).

Now that I know the placenta is up front, I also learned that this "anterior" position adds a whole new element of risk to the C-section, because the doc has to be careful not to slice through the placenta on her way in to get Lyric. Christ.

To summarize:
- Down low: Bad for natural birthy. (Hey! How do I get outta this joint?)
- Up front: Bad for C-section. (Whoops! We cut off her oxygen!)
- Download and up front: Bad. (Dammit.)