First appointment with Doctor O.

You see that little nugget up there? That's our beautiful healthy baby! Heartbeat of 179 beats per minute. And a total entertainer.

Well, I'm finally getting around to writing about our first appointment with the OB, which was last Wednesday. I love my doctor. She is so caring and nice and exactly the kind of person I need to be around for the next 8 months. She has also been my gynecologist for years, so I feel really comfortable with her and she knows my health history. Before our appointment, Corey and I were constantly writing down questions to ask her. Poor Corey had to deal with me throwing out questions stream of consciousness, but he was very calm about it and just wrote them all down on the notepad app on his iPhone. Anyway, we ended up with what seemed like a ton of questions and I didn't understand how we could get out of the office in less than 4 hours. But it only took about 2 and 1/2 hours-not bad for a first appointment!
When we first got there, we filled out a mountain of paperwork. Well, I filled out a mountain of paperwork while Corey entertained himself with games on his phone. I tend to get really anxious and overwhelmed in these types of situations. But as you will see, I really have no idea while they made me fill any of it out. I could have written that I have a personal history of Count Choculitis, and nobody would have even noticed.
Also, looking around the waiting room, I had the same thought I always do when I'm in that office--everyone in this place is pregnant! However, for the first time, I could include myself in the group. So exciting!
The first part of the appointment was the part I was most excited and most nervous about-the ultrasound. But it was AMAZING! We had this great ultrasound tech who pointed out what everything was. Highlights--the Ultrasound Tech said that it looked like our baby was praying because s/he was holding her/his hands up to the face. It also looked a little bit like a baby sucking their thumb. So adorable. And, our baby really looks like a little gummi bear. And has a big head. and Corey swears that at one point he could really make out the facial features and it is the cutest baby ever. After I was sure I had seen everything, our baby started DANCING. Okay, maybe s/he just wiggled her/his arms and legs around, but still. It was very exciting. Also, I swear, right after dancing, Baby Granstrand waved at us. So amazing. And we got a DVD of the ultrasound to take home and share with the family. It was so much fun to watch my parents and my sister and brother-in-law see the video!
So after that, we went to the waiting room to wait while the tech wrote up her report to give to Dr. O. Then we would meet with a nurse, then the nurse practitioner, and then Dr. O. While we were waiting in the waiting room again, I had to pee (a common occurrence) so I went to the bathroom. 5 minutes later, they brought me back and asked me to pee again. And I swear, I developed pee anxiety at that point. I tried and I absolutely couldn't pee. So I had to ask for water, which I chugged 2 full glasses of, and by the end of the appointment, I tried to pee again and only managed an embarrassingly small amount. They said it was enough, but I felt like they were going to make me turn in my pregnant lady card. They just encouraged me to come back and pee in a cup next time, as I will have to do it every time we come in. Oh, well. Of course, when I got home, I peed for over a minute.
In between all of my pee drama, we met with the nurse (who I didn't like). Then we met with the Nurse Practitioner (I love her-she has been there forever). They both asked me a ton of questions, all of which I had already answered on the paperwork I filled out. They said they are trying to go paperless. Seriously?
And then we met with Dr. O. She did an exam and a pap test. We asked her every single question we had and some that I came up with on the spot. She said baby looked perfect and she was so encouraging about everything. And she was genuinely excited for us. It was such a great feeling.
So the appointment schedule for the next few months is as follows:
on September 7th, we will go in for another ultrasound called Nuchal Translucency, or NT scan. At that point I will be 12 weeks, 1 day along.
on September 21, I will go in to see Dr. O again. I guess for quite a while I will be seeing her every 4 weeks, but they change things up once we get into the 3rd trimester.
We won't be able to get our ultrasound for sex determination until 20 weeks, which isn't until November. That seems like a year from now at the moment. I'm trying to talk Corey in to going to one of those 3-D/4-D ultrasound places a little bit earlier to see if they can figure it out. And I'm totally asking the Ultrasound Tech at our NT scan what her best guess is. I really want to know! I want to start decorating! I'm a total planner and this waiting game is interfering with that. I know it's nature, but I'm so anxious to know! And I will be thrilled either way, it's just the not knowing that is making me anxious.
Anyway, the scariest thing I heard--after the 20 week ultrasound, they don't do anymore ultrasounds unless something is wrong. She said they can usually come up with something to code it for with insurance, but I can't imagine going another 20+ weeks (most likely) without seeing the baby. I certainly don't wish for any health problems during pregnancy. And I'm sure it will be different, because I will be able to feel the baby moving around, but it still gives me anxiety. If I could, I would want to see our baby every week. If we won the lotto, I would be crazy like Tom Cruise and get our own ultrasound machine. Because seeing the baby on the ultrasound screen is one of the most precious and beautiful experiences ever.

There are probably lots of folks that would remind me that people went for thousands of years without ultrasounds and had babies that were perfectly healthy. The people that tell you this are also the ones that point out that their mom smoked and drank the whole time they were pregnant, and they turned out alright, didn't they? They also tend to bring up Mad Men as an example. I'm sorry, but Sally Draper is not a good example of a well-adjusted child. And if you are trying to boss a pregnant woman around, you probably aren't the best example of a normal well-adjusted adult. And have you seen the infant and maternal mortality rates in the olden days before ultrasounds? Horrifying.
Just because people used to wash their clothes by hand before they had washing machines doesn't mean any of us want to go down in the stream and beat our clothes against a rock. Modern technology is a fabulous thing, and in terms of health technology it has a lot to do with our increasing lifespan. I will now come down off of my soapbox.

That's it for now! I'm totally in love with our little gummi bear!

Elizabeth