Still Moving Right Along

My 20 week appointment was yesterday. I can't believe it! I'm 20 weeks tomorrow! Halfway done!! It was a pretty special appointment because when I told A it was in our town, he wanted to come, so he got to hear her heartbeat for the first time! It's so nice to know she's still in there because movement has been very infrequent. I know that's normal but it still makes me feel nervous. My total weight gain at 20 weeks is either 5 or 8 pounds. I asked her what my weight was last time, and she told me, and then said that's where I started. I was too excited to clarify, but I'm happy with either. My BP was the same as it always is, except the diastolic is really low. He went so far as to say it was "wonderful". Systolic is still in the 150s, but that's normal for me anyway. He said BP drops around 18 weeks, but it starts to go back up as you get closer to the third trimester, so he wants me back in 3 weeks to keep a closer eye on it.

He also said he got my 24 hour urine results, and we had a sort of funny conversation about it that went like this:

Dr: We got your 24 hour urine results. It was 3 grams. That's high. Is that what you normally run?
Me: Usually I'm at about 6 or 8.
Dr: GRAMS!?
Me: Yep.
Dr: Oh... well... I guess that's good then.

He did say it will go up, and I expect that.

Then we heard her sweet little heartbeat. A didn't know that's what it was at first because so many weird sounds come from the doppler. It's cute how in love with her he already is, and I know it's going to be so different when he's holding her and feeling her kick. Right now he's still detached because she's in my body. He tries to feel her kick and rubs my belly, but she's not cooperating just yet.

All in all, I'm happy with how things are right now. Before I got pregnant, the doctors put the fear of God in me because of my kidneys. I was expecting to be put on  a stronger BP med early on, and to have horrible (worse) proteinuria. I wouldn't have been surprised if I'd been put on bed rest earlier. So to be at 20 weeks with no issues is just an amazing blessing from God, and I'm so thankful to be here. I'm still trying to prepare myself for potential complications later on, but I'm hoping to stave them off for as long as possible. so far her growth is good. I have a fetal echocardiogram in two weeks, where I think they'll check her growth again. I'm assuming I'll be in there for monthly growth scans after that. Right now I'm still just praying to get to 24 weeks. Once I get there I can just hope and pray to keep her in as long as possible. I hope the time goes quickly, and I hope this pregnancy continues to go smoothly. I'm so in love with my baby girl and I want her to have the best start, which means remaining an inside baby for as long as possible!