Hearing Progress?

I've completed my 29th week of pregnancy now. Each passing week makes me feel like I've achieved something major for the baby, though the fact is, I'm doing nothing new.

I am noticing some patterns in the baby's responses.

• When I first started feeling the movements, they were pretty much random, and I could feel them only when I was absolutely quiet - mostly lying down to sleep.
• Then, they slowly became more frequent, and I could feel them more clearly unless I was physically active.
• Then I noticed that they happened when I played certain kinds of music.
• Then I noticed that they started happening when Raka (my husband) stopped speaking or left the room.
• Around the last week or so, we noticed that loud sounds resulted in kicks, particularly sounds like a cheering audience, etc.
• Last night, we realized that there are also responses to changes in tone. For example, kicks can quieten down with my voice or Raka's or when I hear some humorous narrations at night (every night) as I sleep and just as the narration is concluding, the baby starts kicking. Don't know what it understands, but the timing is exactly as P L Deshpande starts wrapping up the session and his tone changes, while it is still with very few and soft movements while its on. Sometimes I think this kid is going to be born thinking of P L Deshpande's voice as that of a family member. :D

Am I noticing some development in my little one's ability to hear, or am I just "wishful thinking" myself into seeing these things?

On a positive side, the medicines the doctor gave me (vitamins) seem to be helping. My stomach discomfort is slightly less. I haven't really made any changes in my diet of nightly feet elevation, but I'd used dukh-daba-vlep (which is kind of like an ayurvedic painkilling/swelling reducing plaster) some 3 days ago. Don't know if its the vitamins or the plaster, but this morning my foot looked almost completely normal. No swelling, just a vague, look of having been swollen earlier. So I am quite relieved.

BTW, while I didn't do it this time, I had earlier noticed that eating bananas helps get swelling down. Something to do with the potassium in them helping the sodium get balanced or something. So, if you're struggling with swelling, it may be worthwhile to give eating bananas before sleeping (or even at other times) a shot.

Normal Anxiety or Pregnancy Paranoia

Okay, I've completed the first trimester, 13 weeks and am well into my 14th week. This is the most pregnant I've ever been, all is fabulous on the health front. Then, like Maria from The sound of Music, "Why am I so scared?"

Now that I've crossed the high risk of miscarriage period, I find other things to worry about - the still existing slight risk of miscarriage, scary write ups online that say smokers and older women (I'm 32) have a greater risk of premature birth.... oh what if I can't carry this little one till it can be healthy and safe?

I've been reading about the struggles preemies and their families face. While I deeply respect their courage and commitment, that is one thing I certainly don't want my little one to go through.

Yet, its like a road accident. I can't but be horrified and sad for the poor families struggling with such a difficult time, and I can't stop reading on. A part of me is cheering them on, celebrating their successes with them, enjoying their little victories, but I can't pretend that another part of me is not living in fear that something like this could happen to my precious one.

I spoke about these concerns with the family doctor I'm currently using, and she wasn't concerned. She told me not to worry about it and to trust that all will be well. That does exactly nothing to my fearful "what ifs".

I tried to find out what the scene is with facilities and support in India for such emergencies. The doctor says there's plenty of excellent facilities and support. I don't know what and where they are. I have yet to read of a single story from India that can tell me what a couple goes through in such circumstances in this country. What are the kind of premature support facilities available in India? NICU I believe they are called.

All in all, I'm worrying about things that may never happen in great detail.

Other times, I just read the stories and relate with the people, and don't feel a single twitch for my own baby - its healthy and happy, and all will be good.

Is this anxiety a normal "mood swing" or am I really being paranoid?