Whew. A lot to catch up on. Let’s get started.
My first OB appointment with Dr. L was on Tuesday. It was good, if not uneventful compared to my trips to the RE. Unfortunately its a pretty busy office and you can usually expect a long wait, whereas at the RE’s we were usually always called back within 5 minutes, and definitely no longer than 10. Hubby doesn’t do well waiting for long periods of time. He’s almost like a small child in that way. It’s a little annoying, and by the end of our appointment I was threatening that he was never coming with me again.
The first thing we did was pay our deposit and set up our payment schedule for the next five months. Holy moly, Baby Nugget’s payments are more than my car payment! Now, all this is based on our due date, which is now January 1st. I’ve already met my deductible for the year. But if we deliver on January 1st or later, I have to pay next year’s deductible. So basically if we can have this baby on December 31st, we’ll save $1500. I mean, who knows what will happen between now and then…we may go early, we may go late.
I was finally called back and they weighed me, took my blood pressure, made me pee in a cup, and then made me undress completely. Apparently I’m a little overdue for my pap, so they decided I could go ahead and do that also since I was there. Yay. I just LOVE surprise pap smears! They also gave us a goodie bag full of magazines, diapers, formula, breast milk containers, and a trimester by trimester planner.
When Dr. L came in he was pretty excited. He almost couldn’t believe that I had gotten pregnant so fast. We talked a little bit about what meds and things Dr. P had me on (I feel like Follistim was the missing piece for me), and I told him that we were lucky after our 1st IUI. He gave me a due date of January 1st based on my last period and IUI date, which could change depending on how Baby Nugget is measuring down the road. After my pap, he told me not to freak out but my cervix may bleed just a little and that it was completely normal. To which I replied, “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!”
After that he got out the Doppler so we could check Baby Nugget’s heart beat. After looking for a while, I was beginning to get nervous. It’s hard to find on the Doppler sometimes when you’re so early, and if the baby is laying a certain way also. I carry most of my weight in my belly, so I wondered if the extra belly fat was making it hard to find as well, although Dr. L would never say so. Regardless, we couldn’t find it with the Doppler and I was starting to get very nervous. Dr. L was sure everything was fine, but said he wasn’t about to send me out of there for a month without me know that the baby was ok. So we were told to sit tight and wait for the ultrasound tech to come get us.
Heather showed up to get us. She’s done plenty of ultrasounds on me in the past, and was excited to hear that things were going so well for us. She took us to a room that I’ve never been to with a pretty old school ultrasound machine setup. She told me to go ahead and get on the bed. I looked around. There was nowhere for me to undress like the regular ultrasound rooms they have. She just stood there waiting for me, and hubby was sitting in the corner. There was a stack of sheets on a table to cover your bottom half with so I guessed she just wanted me to go ahead. I mean, she’s seen me naked plenty when she was probing me in the other ultrasound room. So I kick off my shoes and have my pants halfway down to my knees before she says, “Oh, no, we’re just going to do it on your belly.” Uhh…oh, ok. Let me just put my pants back on. A little embarrassing? Yes. Comical? Of course. I apologized for the strip tease and we all laughed as I jumped on the table, fully clothed.
She explained that this was the old, OLD ultrasound machine that they used when they are backed up. Tuesday’s are pregnant lady days, so they were pretty busy. We were just checking for the heartbeat, so this machine would do. The picture was super fuzzy, especially since my bladder wasn’t full like its supposed to be for abdominal ultrasounds. But we could make out a fuzzy little Nugget wiggling around on the screen. As usual, Nugget was moving those arms and legs like crazy, which could have made it hard to find on the Doppler as well. We couldn’t hear the heartbeat on this machine, but we could see it. She told me it was 146bpm. I’m not sure if she had to count that or if the ghetto machine told her that. I was a tiny bit concerned that it was 178 the week before and now it was 146. She told me it was completely normal. The heartbeat starts out a little low, then peaks around weeks 8-10, getting up to sometimes the 180’s, then begins to come down a little bit. Anything between 120 and 160 is normal, and she assured me it was a perfectly healthy heartbeat. Of course, I’m always paranoid, so…
Dr. L said he would see me back in a month. Like any other normal pregnant woman. It feels kinda nice to be on a normal schedule, but at the same time my weekly checkups helped keep me sane. How can I go 4 weeks without seeing Nugget or hearing it’s heartbeat? At one point the worry had subsided a little. Now it’s back full force.
An example of my paranoia:
Dr. L asked me if the morning sickness was going away, to which a replied a very enthusiastic NO. I told him Dr. P was a little stingy with the Zofran, so Dr. L gave me another script for some, saying that it was perfectly safe to take and to take it whenever I needed it. So I’ve been a little more generous with the Zofran this week. And it really does make me feel better. Much better. But when I’m not feeling sick, its makes me a little nervous. Does that mean something is wrong with Baby Nugget? As long as I’m sick I know Baby Nugget is kicking around in there. Stupid logic, I know. I don’t know what I’m going to do when the morning {all day} sickness finally goes away.
I’ve thought about buying a fetal Doppler to have at home. But then I’m afraid that I won’t be able to find the heartbeat and then I’ll be an even bigger basketcase than I already am. I’ve read that they are pretty tricky to use and a lot of women don’t have much luck with them. Does anyone have one/ever used one? What kind or brand do you recommend?
Ok, let’s get on with this Nugget update. It’s a little late this week, but better late than never!
Baby is the size of a lime! Your fetus is about 1.6 inches long, and she’s got about a 1:1 head-to-body ratio. She now weighs in at about .25 ounces. By week 11, her tooth buds, hair follicles, and nail beds are forming. Her skin is see-through, but she’s on her way to looking more like a baby. Her fingers and toes aren’t webbed any more, and she’s moving fluidly and gracefully in there, even through you can’t feel it.
How far along? 11 weeks
Total weight gain: -5lbs as of earlier this week. They may have changed since I pigged out on Olive Garden last night. Thank you, Zofran!
Maternity clothes? Nope.
Stretch marks? No new ones. Ha!
Sleep: I haven’t been sleeping well this week. But I want to!
Best moment this week: First OB appointment and being treated like a regular pregnant woman.
Miss Anything? Nah.
Movement: Not for a long while I imagine.
Food cravings: I’d been craving Olive Garden salad and breadsticks and finally got it last night!
Anything making you queasy or sick: If I don’t eat for a while or let myself get too hungry. Smells seems to a big trigger this week. A stinky patient at work made me hurl Thursday.
Gender prediction: No strong feelings one way or the other. As long as its healthy, I’m happy!
Labor Signs: No, thank you.
Symptoms: Fatigue, sore boobs, morning sickness/afternoon sickness/evening sickness….basically ALL DAY SICKNESS, bloat, and most things smell TERRIBLE.
Belly Button in or out? In. I have a pretty chunky belly, so I imagine it’ll stay.
Wedding rings on or off? They fit.
Happy or Moody most of the time: I am happy and queasy!
Looking forward to: Being able to announce our big news. Next week may be the week for the girls at work.
Next appointment: July 9th. Should be almost 15 weeks!
He has been a wiggle worm the last few days!
