About a month to go (?)

Jan. 7: Andrew and I had our first joint prenatal visit to my
midwife today.  Andrew thought the whole thing was really cool, and my
midwife was nice about including him.  They measured my belly together
(33 cm from bottom to top).  Andrew was excited to keep the tape
measurer.  They also put some jelly on my belly and used a doppler to
listen to the heart beat.  She was at 148 beats/minute today.  Andrew
was a little concerned about the noise of the doppler…it’s a loud
swishing sound with lots of static instead of a quiet "ba-dum" heart
beat.  When my midwife stepped out, Andrew said, "That lady put peanut
butter…I mean jelly on your belly.  And I was nervous." 
My midwife was having a hard time confirming that the baby was head down, so
she brought in an ultrasound machine.  More jelly on the belly, and
Andrew and I got to see "pictures" of little sister.  Andrew quickly
lost interest because the images look nothing like a person.  She
confirmed that the baby is indeed head-down, which is a really nice
thing.  It also means that the lump that moves around up by my ribs is
her baby bottom.  She spent a couple moments confirming that there was
a good amount of amniotic fluid, and she took a peek at the heart and
the umbilical cord.  Amazing to see her heart valves pumping and the
arteries in the umbilical cord!
As we left, Andrew
recieved a sticker.  Later in the day, he woke up from his nap and
said, "We measured you with the measurer.  Then we put jelly on you and
listened to the baby’s heart beat.  Then we saw a picture.  And I got a
sticker of a warthog!"  He clearly thought it was a pretty neat
experience.  My next appointment is in two weeks.  I’ll be 37 weeks!