1/24/12
Josh has already written an entry about our second doctor’s appointment, but I wanted to make sure I recorded my reactions as well for later reflection. Wow! What an amazing appointment.
It was much more of the appointment that I’ve read about in my baby books and blogs. We were both (but mostly me) asked about our personal and family medical history. Mine is always depressing because there are so many issues: diabetes, heart disease/attacks/bypass surgeries, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, skin cancer, etc. Whenever I go to a new doctor and have to fill out the forms for your family medical history, I feel like I’m doomed! The poor woman asking all the questions kept looking at me nervously as I kept saying yes and telling her who in my family has that particular issue.
It was much more of the appointment that I’ve read about in my baby books and blogs. We were both (but mostly me) asked about our personal and family medical history. Mine is always depressing because there are so many issues: diabetes, heart disease/attacks/bypass surgeries, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, skin cancer, etc. Whenever I go to a new doctor and have to fill out the forms for your family medical history, I feel like I’m doomed! The poor woman asking all the questions kept looking at me nervously as I kept saying yes and telling her who in my family has that particular issue.
After that depressing part, we met with the nurse (different from our first appointment). She did a pap, asked me about my symptoms, and made sure I had gotten an extra vitamin D supplement to take alongside my pre-natal vitamins. She gave us a few handouts about what medications are safe during pregnancy, how to keep nausea down, etc. Then she said, “Alright, get dressed and then we will go down to another room for you to get undressed again and we will do an ultrasound so you can see the baby and the heartbeat.” How exciting!!!
So we traveled down the hall to another room, but at least this time it was just stripping from the waist down. Josh got to be in charge of turning the lights off and on. In a matter of seconds, there was little BB on the screen curled up against my uterus. How crazy!! There is a tiny person growing inside of me! She showed us where the umbilical cord was starting to form. She showed us where little buds were forming that will be BB’s arms and legs (he/she was chilling upside down in there). And then she put on the audio and we heard BB’s heartbeat for the first time! 161 beats per minute…strong and healthy and utterly amazing. I thanked God for that moment. For BB having a strong heartbeat. For Josh and I getting to share that moment for the first time. For the miracle that is growing inside of me. I have been so worried about the possibility of a miscarriage, and hearing that heart beat allowed me to let out a little sigh of relief.
BB is also already a little overachiever. BB measured a day ahead in size for the ultrasound. From now on we will have an appointment every 4 weeks or so until much later in the pregnancy. Our next appointment is February 13th. The nurse let us know that around week 17 or so, we will have another ultrasound where we may be able to find out if BB is a boy or girl if we want to know.
It’s crazy how quickly everything is going by. I can’t believe tomorrow I will be 9 weeks along! That will make BB somewhere in the size range of a large raspberry or green olive…almost an inch big! It also means BB is not an embryo anymore but has reached official fetus status! As far as I go, I’m still having nausea but no vomiting, my nose is always congested, I get headaches here and there, the breast tenderness has been non-stop, I’m exhausted no matter how much sleep I get (which isn’t usually much with the trips to the bathroom), and more recently I’m constipated. This is because of certain hormones that slow down my digestive track so that the nutrients from my food has a longer amount of time to be absorbed by BB, but it leaves me feeling not so great. I haven’t had any super weird cravings, but I am NOT a fan of meat right now! For a while it was just beef…now it’s about any meat. I’m okay sometimes if it’s already prepared, but just the thought of cooking it makes me want to puke. So, when I can’t stomach meat, I’m getting my protein in through milk, cheese, yogurt, beans, etc. and that seems to be working out just fine. I had lost a little weight between doctor’s appointments, but I’m sure that won’t last much longer (nor should it). Exercise is hard simply because of a busy schedule, so I’m trying to make time for it and make it a higher priority. Two months down, seven to go!
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