9 weeks 2 days
I FINALLY had my first OB appointment since getting pregnant. It seemed like this day would NEVER come - between the anxiety, the excitement, the annoying work tasks, the nausea and the fatigue, this has been an insanely long 3 weeks.
Anyways - we spent quite some time with the nurse, Kathy. She was SO nice. We talked medical history and then she gave us all kinds of info about being pregnant. She was very pleased that she didn't have to lecture me about nutrition (and was thrilled when I gave her the run down of my normal meals, which are pretty much exactly what they should be). And I was very happy that I'll be giving birth in the Saint Mary's Birthing Center. Even though I haven't given thought to my birth plan because that seems VERY far away, I like the idea of natural/non-medical treatments.
Kathy then took us to the exam room to draw some blood for some routine tests. I have notoriously difficult veins, which I warned her about, and lo and behold, after trying on each arm, she couldn't get any blood. I think she was more upset than me, and gave me a big hug. It was very sweet, albeit slightly annoying (because it meant I had to go to the lab to get blood drawn, which thankfully was a success).
Unfortunately my doctor, Dr. Mathis, was the doc on call and had to go attend a delivery. They suggested we wait a few just in case, but figured we'd have to reschedule. I was pretty disappointed, and definitely felt an overwhelming urge to cry because I've literally been counting down the days to this appointment. So, when they came to tell us that in fact Dr. Mathis wasn't available, I sucked up enough courage to ask if another doctor was available. Ask and you shall receive! The resident old guy (ok, his actual name is Dr. Burns) was very willing to come see me!
He was very friendly and congratulatory (which was a theme in their office). He tried out the doppler to see if we could hear the heartbeat, warning us that at 9 weeks, even though the heart is beating, it's often too early to detect via doppler. I did hear some rhythmic whooshing and starting getting so excited. He was concentrating hard and then put his had on my wrist to obviously check my pulse. I asked if it was my heartbeat or the baby's. He said, "I think it's your baby's." OMG. SO happy. But then he said, although it's a little slow, but a bit too fast to be yours. Yours seems high, but not that high. The conclusion was he just couldn't be sure, but he did add that I had "good placental noises" (upon clarification, that means that he could hear the blood and fluids flowing down there). A physical exam indicated that indeed I have an appropriately swollen uterus.
So - no conclusive heartbeat (and no suckering him into an early ultrasound due to my irregular cycles), but we left the appointment feeling pretty happy. Jeff and I both felt very comfortable in the practice - everyone was just so darn nice. We feel like they'd be open to listening to our birth plan (once it's developed). Plus, like Jeff said, "That guy must have seen a lot of vaginas in his life." Ha! That's such a Jeff thing to say. But he's right. There was absolutely nothing about our interaction with Dr. Burns that made us feel like there was any cause for concern.
Next appointment: September 27. At that point, we'll definitely be able to hear the heartbeat on the doppler. And if not, they'll do an ultrasound to see what's up. But I'm not thinking about it like that. I'm going to just think positive about hearing that heartbeat and not worry about the rest. I'm a really healthy woman and I'm trying to follow all the rules. So far, everything is progressing the way it should AND I'm not vomiting! I consider myself very lucky.
Anyways - we spent quite some time with the nurse, Kathy. She was SO nice. We talked medical history and then she gave us all kinds of info about being pregnant. She was very pleased that she didn't have to lecture me about nutrition (and was thrilled when I gave her the run down of my normal meals, which are pretty much exactly what they should be). And I was very happy that I'll be giving birth in the Saint Mary's Birthing Center. Even though I haven't given thought to my birth plan because that seems VERY far away, I like the idea of natural/non-medical treatments.
Kathy then took us to the exam room to draw some blood for some routine tests. I have notoriously difficult veins, which I warned her about, and lo and behold, after trying on each arm, she couldn't get any blood. I think she was more upset than me, and gave me a big hug. It was very sweet, albeit slightly annoying (because it meant I had to go to the lab to get blood drawn, which thankfully was a success).
Unfortunately my doctor, Dr. Mathis, was the doc on call and had to go attend a delivery. They suggested we wait a few just in case, but figured we'd have to reschedule. I was pretty disappointed, and definitely felt an overwhelming urge to cry because I've literally been counting down the days to this appointment. So, when they came to tell us that in fact Dr. Mathis wasn't available, I sucked up enough courage to ask if another doctor was available. Ask and you shall receive! The resident old guy (ok, his actual name is Dr. Burns) was very willing to come see me!
He was very friendly and congratulatory (which was a theme in their office). He tried out the doppler to see if we could hear the heartbeat, warning us that at 9 weeks, even though the heart is beating, it's often too early to detect via doppler. I did hear some rhythmic whooshing and starting getting so excited. He was concentrating hard and then put his had on my wrist to obviously check my pulse. I asked if it was my heartbeat or the baby's. He said, "I think it's your baby's." OMG. SO happy. But then he said, although it's a little slow, but a bit too fast to be yours. Yours seems high, but not that high. The conclusion was he just couldn't be sure, but he did add that I had "good placental noises" (upon clarification, that means that he could hear the blood and fluids flowing down there). A physical exam indicated that indeed I have an appropriately swollen uterus.
So - no conclusive heartbeat (and no suckering him into an early ultrasound due to my irregular cycles), but we left the appointment feeling pretty happy. Jeff and I both felt very comfortable in the practice - everyone was just so darn nice. We feel like they'd be open to listening to our birth plan (once it's developed). Plus, like Jeff said, "That guy must have seen a lot of vaginas in his life." Ha! That's such a Jeff thing to say. But he's right. There was absolutely nothing about our interaction with Dr. Burns that made us feel like there was any cause for concern.
Next appointment: September 27. At that point, we'll definitely be able to hear the heartbeat on the doppler. And if not, they'll do an ultrasound to see what's up. But I'm not thinking about it like that. I'm going to just think positive about hearing that heartbeat and not worry about the rest. I'm a really healthy woman and I'm trying to follow all the rules. So far, everything is progressing the way it should AND I'm not vomiting! I consider myself very lucky.
Wow, can't believe you are that far along already! Glad that he thinks everything is good, hope it stays that way and you get to hear a fast, healthy heartbeat on the 27th!
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