Can you hear that?

The past two days I really didn't feel the little girl moving very much. At 28 weeks, I'm supposed to feel her at least every two hours. I'd go much more than that during the work day. Maybe I was busy. Maybe I wasn't paying attention. But those maybes weren't settling my mind.

So, this morning I called the doctor. While I have been counting kicks (you're supposed to have 10 kicks/punches/swishes/rolls in 10 minutes twice a day morning and night), Amelia seemed to have slowed down lately. The OB nurse returned my phone call, and I made an appointment for 2 p.m. today.

Arriving, I wasn't sure what to expect. They hooked me up to a stress test machine and a contraction machine, each with its own belt wrapped tightly around my tummy. At first, they couldn't find the heartbeat. The weird part was that we could hear her scooting around in there.

Eventually, the beautiful lub-dubs echoed out of the machine. It fluctuated between 98 and 148 beats per minute. Brent and I were told this is normal because it shows elevated brain activity. When the baby is smaller and younger, the heartbeat stays at the same rate because s/he can't regulate it on its own. Usually around 32 weeks is when the baby can start to react to what I've eaten, my activity level and her own activity level. So, it corresponds accordingly.

Anyway, here's little Amelia. I just couldn't wait to hear that sound until Monday at our next appointment. I can definitely say that Mommy is going to sleep better than ever tonight.

(PS. I'm working on getting the audio in here. It's not cooperating right now.)