12 Week Appointment

Today was our 12 week appointment. Jay has his last test before the first year of medical school ends on Friday and unfortunately a review session was scheduled for the same time as my appointment. Luckily, he got out early enough to come anyway and I was happy he could make it.

This appointment was longer than last time, especially as I had a whole list of questions to ask our midwife. I've been keeping a running list on my iPhone as things pop into my mind--I definitely recommend doing that. For example, I was VERY happy to learn she does not do routine episiotomies (in fact, she she has only ever done 3-4 when the baby was in distress and still tries to make it a last resort). If you don't know what an episiotomy is, google it, but NOT if you are at work or easily grossed out! I asked other questions about how she handles going overdue, labor, induction, who her backup is, and how the baby is treated immediately after birth. So far, I am very happy in our choice of provider. I never felt rushed, even though I asked questions for 20 minutes. I feel spoiled when I hear about people who barely get to see their OB during appointments! My goal is to go into labor understanding why/how everything is done and what my options are and our midwife is doing great at helping me accomplish this.

On the medical side of things, my blood pressure was normal and I apparently lost two pounds. I *highly* doubt that trend will continue, as I am starting to feel like a normal person again, but it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. The best part--we heard the baby's heartbeat! It was 160 BPM. I was a little nervous because it seemed like it took a really long time to find, but the midwife and Jay both said they heard it quickly, it was just harder to lock on to. I guess that is one benefit of Jay chasing me around with a stethoscope all the time asking to hear my heartbeat! The midwife told us now that we have heard the heartbeat via doppler, our chances of miscarriage are extremely low--wahoo!

Finally, they took blood. I was NOT excited about this part as I really don't like needles, but actually, it wasn't bad at all. I looked away and Jay talked to my while it was going on--they take a good bit of blood, but it only took a minute or two. Jay took a Phlebotomy course a few years ago and it was interesting for him to watch. He said the lady was good, but if she had held the needle in, the insertion point wouldn't be quite so bruised now. (I twitch my arms a lot--drives my mom nuts)

My next appointment is at 16 weeks and should be pretty routine. I've already pre-registered for the delivery and we are going to sign up for a hospital tour soon. I also need to take a pre-baby bump picture soon. Nope--nothing yet, but we keep forgetting to document the "before" and it might be too late soon!

So...we're expecting.

Expecting what? Sleepless nights, loud noises, oh...and a baby!

If you missed the official Facebook announcement, Jay and I will (God-willing) be welcoming our first child into the world in early December. Right smack in the middle of my four sibling's "Annual November/December Birthday Death March to Christmas." Sorry Mom!

We found out the day after I ran my first half marathon. Thank goodness for digital pregnancy tests, otherwise Jay might not have believed me!

I had my first appointment at about 8 weeks, which also happened to be my 23rd birthday. I was blessed with the birthday gift of a clean bill of health (so far) and an image of our little guy/girl chilling out:

He/she sort of looks like an evil Pokemon at this point, but we are pretty sure he/she will get cuter. We even got to see our munchkin do a little wiggle and "saw" the heartbeat! My next appointment is in 2 weeks--it's the "fun" one where I get subjected to half a dozen blood tests.

In other news, pregnancy induced nausea/fatigue/sinus headaches suck! Jay and both got a nasty cold this past weekend, and I'm still recovering. The last 6 weeks or so have been pretty rough with us traveling every weekend on top of my many infirmities. Jay has been a real trooper. Except for the time he said my (sitting-in-rush-hour-traffic-feeling-like-I'm-about-to-barf-induced) moaning was "annoying."

I've finally started feeling better and it seems the light at the end of the tunnel is FINALLY closing in (unless it is a train) as I finally felt good enough to cook AND eat a homemade dinner tonight. Pretty rare occurrence lately!

I'm just about 11 weeks now and my clothes are starting to get tight in the belly--it's probably time to take the "Pre Baby Bump" picture. I think I'll wait until I don't look like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, though!