Appts. (Thus Far)

Hello Blog World!

As I've alluded to, these first few posts will probably be a bit random as we get back to blogging, and get everyone caught up with the events of Sweet Pea thus far. As promised, I will still post some entries I wrote before the word got out, but there are other things I wanted to share that I didn't quite get around to blogging about...until now.

So this post will be devoted to information about our appointments for Sweet Pea (thus far), as that has been one thing I wasn't good about blogging about...

Again, a little back tracking...I first took an at-home pregnancy test early in the morning on Friday, December 10th (another post about that to come). Two pink lines right away! I called the doctor that afternoon! Although I anticipated having to wait a little while until our first appointment, I didn't think it would be so long...January 6th! UGH! For those who have been through pregnancy before, you understand how painstakingly slow those weeks go (especially when you are waiting until after that appointment to tell ANYBODY...which we were).

So we waited. And waited. And waited some more. We made it through Christmas and New Years without telling a soul, and keeping it pretty well under wraps too! Until finally...January 6th! We eagerly drove to the doctor. I, admittedly, was super nervous. We have had a good number of friends experience miscarriage, some of them with no symptoms until the 1st ultrasound that revealed that baby simply did not develop properly. In many ways, I think I was just bracing myself to have bad news...which is just an awful feeling!

Our first appointment was with the nurse practitioner (at our clinic they alternate between seeing her and the doctor). Our nurse is very nice. Kind. Reassuring. She listened as we asked typical "nervous first-timer questions" (my phrase, not hers), and calmed our fears, assuring us everything we were describing was perfectly normal. After answering our questions, and reviewing my health history came the best part...the ultrasound.

There are really no words to describe watching the ultrasound screen turn from black to bright with the unmistakable sight of a womb...and a baby! There Sweet Pea was...looking not quite babyish, but amazing and beautiful all the same. (See picture to see what I mean...) The best part...a little flicker in the middle of the "blob" that our nurse proudly proclaimed was the heartbeat! I said, and I quote, "Holy crap!" as I beheld the first glimpse of our baby. All of a sudden, this was more real. All of a sudden, it's not just a dream or a hope or a "someday." It's a now. Now there's a baby. A living, growing, heart-beating baby...inside me! Holy crap.

Although at that point according to "the numbers," I was 8 weeks, 6 days along, the baby was measuring a full week smaller at 7 weeks, 6 days. The nurse said this was nothing to worry about, as babies and gestation times vary. She explained that at the "big" 20 week ultrasound, they will remeasure and be able to better predict the due date. However, in order for the due date to move from the predicted August 12th, the baby would need to be measuring a full 10 days bigger or smaller. Everything checked out, and the nurse sent us on our merry way, knowing that Sweet Pea was safe and healthy inside of me.

The following days and weeks we got to FINALLY spill the beans (more on that to come). It was weird (but wonderful) to finally be able to talk about Sweet Pea with more people than just me and Jeromy!

Four weeks following our appointment with the nurse (February 4th to be exact) was our first appointment with the doctor. By the time the appointment came, I was nervous again. What if something happened to Sweet Pea? What if they can't find a heartbeat? What if they missed that something was wrong on the ultrasound? Uff. I am a 3rd generation (at least) worrier, and it's hard to fend off sometimes.

The appointment with the doctor was much shorter. A flu shot. A check in about how things are going (fine but still sick - which was normal). A check of my blood pressure (also normal) and weight (only a pound gained since my first appointment - normal, given how sick I'd been). I really love my doctor. I had seen her once before for my annual physical (in addition to being an OB, she is also a gynecologist). She is FABULOUS (thank you for the great recommendation, Jackie!) And it's funny, because since letting the word out I found out that at least one friend has had her as an OB too! She's super nice, and friendly. Really easy to talk to. And has fabulous "bed side manner." I look forward to working with her in the months to come!

Anyways, no ultrasound this time -but the doc did check for the heartbeat! Again, the "realness" of it set in big time. Laying on my back, the doctor put cold gel on my abdomen, followed by the wand to find Sweet Pea's sweet heartbeat. I held my breath as she moved it around, waiting for the sound we hoped for. All of sudden we heard a swooshing sound. "There's your baby!," she said. At first I was a bit disappointed, because it didn't sound as strong as I thought it would. Soon after I thought that, the doctor moved the wand ever so slightly and the heartbeat got super super strong and loud! What a fantastic sound! The doctor said it sounded great. Nice and strong at about 150 beats per minute. YAY!!

Another exciting part of the appointment with the doctor is that we were able to make the appointment for our "big" week 20 ultrasound. The ultrasound will take place on March 24th. If all goes well, we'll be able to know if Sweet Pea is a boy or a girl! Start placing your bets now! :-)

I had another appointment yesterday, that ended up great...but came about in a not so desirable way. Late in the afternoon on February 14th I had a little bit of bleeding. I, understandably, freaked out a little bit. I hadn't had any bleeding or cramping or anything previously, but I had read the horror stories of 2nd trimester miscarriages. It's scary to think that something might be wrong. So I called the nurse line right away. She asked me a bunch of questions. She said it sounded like it wasn't anything to worry about, but encouraged me to come in just to be sure. So we made an appointment for the next morning.

I did my best not to worry that night (Jeromy did a great job helping me with that), and we were able to have a really nice Valentine's Day celebration together. I went in the next morning feeling a little more reassured, as I hadn't had any additional bleeding, and no other symptoms. I met with our nurse practitioner again, and was very pleased that she did a very thorough exam. She took the time to really check things out. Much to my surprise, the exam included another ultrasound! And this time, Sweet Pea actually looked like a baby! :-) Check out the picture at right to see! We could make out its little head and arms. And even more impressive...Sweet Pea was on the move. Lots of little twitches and movement. Once again, a nice strong visible and audible heartbeat. I'll admit...I teared up. There is seriously nothing better than that sight and sound.

While I was at the doctor I scheduled two more appointments...one in about 2 weeks with the nurse, and the next appointment with our doctor 4 weeks after that. By that appointment, we'll know if Sweet Pea is a boy or a girl!

Wow. This was a long post. Hopefully they'll become shorter once I get a chance to play "catch-up." Thanks for reading!