Baby Update - 24 weeks

I am now 24 weeks pregnant and little Junior is starting to get very active. I went to the doctor today for a checkup - here, I just go when we think it's time, no appointments, no reminders. It had been over a month since I'd last seen my OB and I know that the glucose test is around 24 weeks, so I went. For some reason, the hospital was busy, lots of kids and adults, sick kids and adults, I assume, standing around coughing and breathing the same air as myself, a healthy pregnant woman. That is one thing I REALLY don't like about the doctor visits here - everyone is all together, sick and well, sure makes it a lot easier to pick up nasty little germs. Anyway, saw the doctor, all is well. My weight is the same as the last time I had a visit - so I got a stern look for that. I had to remind her that I'd lost a bunch of weight from my last sickness and have since gained it all back, so I've actually done quite well. She listened for Junior's heartbeat and found a very muffled, but steady one after prodding and poking and hurting me for a few minutes. She said Junior must be way back by my spine so it was hard to get a clear heartbeat. He was kicking the doppler wand anytime she stuck it in my belly, so I know he was doing ok in there. For my glucose test, the pharmacy gave me a bag of sugar - at least that's what it looks like, told me to mix it with 200cc of water, drink it in 5 minutes and come to hospital to get my blood drawn exactly one hour after drinking. I will do it on Monday. It cost me $150 NT (about 5 us dollars) to get the sugar - apparently the National Health Insurance does not cover the cost of the test here. Makes me wonder how many women elect to not have it done then and whether it's even a cause of concern for the Asian population.

I haven't been sleeping too well. I take a long time to fall asleep, usually because that when my body starts aching from the day and Junior wakes up and starts kicking/punching. I have been having these really sharp shooting pains on my right side at night that are very bothersome. Doc said it's probably a nerve and that only time will make it go away. I sure hope it goes away soon. I'm exhausted in the mornings, try and take naps in the afternoon and am ready to go back to sleep by 8pm! It's really sad.

I am taking Yoga classes once a week. The instructor does the class in Chinese, as I'm the only foreigner in the class - but she'll occasionally switch to English if she sees me looking lost or confused. I was really sore after last weeks class so it is doing it's job! I've also noticed that a lot of the poses we do open up the pelvic muscles and are often poses that you see in natural childbirthing techniques, so hopefully, this is getting me ready.

I'm currently reading "The Birth Book" by the Sears duo. It is a very good read and has give me some great information on attempting to labor and birth naturally. I'm actually starting to look forward to my labor and my whole birth experience with this one. I even dreamt about it last night! Definitely a different mindset than with my others ("Just give me the drugs as soon as I have my first contraction!").