Regular OBGYN Appointment 1

December 19

I had my first official prenatal appointment today.  I'm still kind of in shock.  I don't know when that will go away.  I had to fill out the many forms that come with this first appointment.  I could have done without that.  The section that asks for "number of pregnancies" "number of miscarriages" "number of living children" etc. is always a kick in the gut.  Maybe someday I'll get used to it, but today was not that day.

We got called back for an ultrasound first.  This was the part I was most looking forward to and most dreading.  Hearing that heartbeat makes or breaks the rest of everything.  Luckily that was the first thing the tech did after she found the baby.  There was a strong heartbeat and we could even see it beating.  I let out a sigh of relief and squeezed Adam's hand.  It was more real and happy.  More than I was willing to hope for until then.  The baby (or blob . . . not really much to see at this point . . . but a pretty amazing blob) looked good and was measuring pretty close to where it should be (a day or two behind what they expected but normal).  She printed out a couple pictures for us and then sent us back out to the waiting room to wait for our appointment with the doctor.

The nurse who took us back was a bit much for me.  I know she was just trying to be nice, but she told us congratulations and how excited she was for us at least 5 times.  We're happy too, but at the same time scared, nervous and trying to be realistic.  If she'd read my chart maybe that would have come across.  I say that because I know she didn't read it.  I had to explain everything I filled out on those forms to her in person.  I understand they have a lot of patients, but if I'm going to have to tell you anyway why make me fill out the form?  It's a double whammy of depressing.  I don't mind talking about it, it just would be nice to do one or the other.  Or go over the paperwork with the nurse so they are prepared instead of asking stupid questions.  For example:
Nurse - "What pregnancy is this for you?"
Me - (I filled this out why didn't she look at it?) "This is my third pregnancy."
Nurse - "Oh!  Do you have 2 children at home?!" (in an excited voice)
Me - *pause* "No, we don't have any living children"

Once the nurse left I was glad we'd only be seeing my doctor from then on.  I like my doctor enough that I can get over annoying nurses.  My doctor came in and said my blood work all looked good and my pap looked normal.  There was another test they didn't do last time so I ended up going back down to the lab afterwards, but no big deal.  She said baby was looking good and to keep on the progesterone.  She ended up writing me another prescription for my prenatal vitamin so I could get the generic (the one I had the first month was $60 . . . quite steep . . . it's much more reasonable now).  She asked if we had any questions for her or about what to expect with the high risk appointment but we'd pretty much covered everything.  My official due date is August 2.

As we left I felt much more at ease than when we'd arrived.  I knew our baby was so far growing the way it should and had a heartbeat.  At this point that's all we can ask for.  It feels more like reality now. I've had some pregnancy symptoms, but like with Madeline it hasn't been too bad.  Tiredness is the main symptom I've been dealing with.  I had some nausea for a week or so and have just started having breast tenderness, but overall I can't complain.  We'll see what happens as time goes on.