Prenatal checkup - 23 weeks

I'm usually at home alone with the kids for my prenatal checkups, so I never get to take any pictures. Unfortunately for Simon he was home not feeling well last week for my 23 week checkup, but on a positive note I got him to get a few shots of us listening to the baby's heartbeat with the fetoscope.

One thing I love about these visits is that the minute that the midwife comes in the door, the kids swarm her and don't leave my side until the visit is over. I guess I assumed they'd always want to go and do their own thing since we're at home, but they're always right there and love to get involved in any way they can. I feel so blessed that they know that this is their baby as well and are concerned for me and baby Graham.

Oh, and you may ask, why a fetoscope instead of a doppler to listen to the baby? The doppler uses ultrasound technology to bounce sound waves off the baby and returns the sound of the fetal heartbeat. While super easy to use and pick up the baby's heartbeat, there are studies of developmental risks with continuous use of ultrasound on fetuses (both dopplers and sonograms). So, we choose to only use the doppler during labor to monitor the baby's heartrate.