Anterior Placentas are bad for you

At least I think so. I haven't had one before but so far I hate it. I can't feel a thing! Here's the story:

This morning I went into the doctor's office as soon as I dropped Ashlyn off at school. I hadn't felt the baby since yesterday and the little handout "Kick Count" card they gave me said that I should be feeling at least 10 kicks in 2 hours and if it took longer than that then I should give them a call.

This hasn't been an active baby by any stretch but I can usually count on a few good minutes of kicking in the morning if I lay on my back as I'm waking up. Last night - nothing, this morning - nothing. I was incredibly worried! An acquaintance of mine (due 2 weeks before me) had to be induced a few weeks ago to give birth to her baby after the cord strangled him. Had I never heard of this I might have been fine to wait a few more hours but I was so paranoid and emotional I needed to know right away if everthing was ok.

I did all that I could this morning according the KC card: emptied my bladder, drank water, stretched. Ahhh! I cried on the way to school and said a bunch of prayers. I made it to the waiting room and spoke to the receptionist calmly but when the nurse came out I said what I needed to and then there was no more. I just cried while they took me back to the room and brought out the ultrasound.

The nurse was so perfect! She knew I wasn't in a talking mood so she chatted with Nathan and just gave me instructions. First thing I saw was a little heart beating! Then I got to let out a nice big sob. She spent quite a few minutes with me and at the end presented me with some printed pictures to take home. I love her! I'll post them and try to explain so you can see too!
Above we have a front view. Tilt your head to the right. On the right is the cutest face you've ever seen! You can see dark spots for the eyes and you can even see a nose and lips! Chest is in the middle. My placenta (the yucky anterior one) is the light curve along the top.




This one is a great shot of my problem. You can clearly see the foot and leg on the left. I am getting kicked. I feel nothing. I love ultrasounds. See? GE really does bring good things to life! The white blobs on the far right (they kind of look like they are forming the head of an arrow) are the fingertips - this little one was waving up a storm at Nathan, who was just eating it up (and waving right back!). That cocktail weiner looking thing next to the foot is the umbilical cord.
Ok, here is another "waving at Nathan" picture. You can see the leg and foot (again pushing on a nice squishy placenta) and I feel nothing! On the right you can see two arms in the process of waving. You can see the fingers. Below you see some vague vertical white ribs and the bright white body. You also get a nice cross-section of the umbilical cord. You can see the three circle areas outlined in white? That's the 2 veins and the artery, or the 2 arteries and the vein - I can't remember.
And last but not least, another cute face! (On the far right - looking right at you!) It's been sliced diagonally, but you can see the baby's right eye, nose, mouth and chin. SOOOoooooo cute! I love the face pictures the best. The white blob is probably an arm and the other things are appendages too.

Anyway - I had to pay $20, but the peace of mind is so worth it!