Another Doctor's Appointment

We went to the doctor yesterday at the 16 weeks mark. For the most part it went great. We decided to get an "early" morning appointment at 9:10am. So, we slept in and got to the office right at 9:10am. Well, around 10am when we were still sitting in the waiting room, I started to get very upset and went to the receptionist to ask when I would be called back. Everyone in the waiting room had come in since I had been sitting there and some people were being called back after literally waiting for only 5-10 minutes. So, the receptionist called back to my doctor's nurse and said, "She says you can come on back". I was so, so, so upset! But, luckily, the nurse that I really like is back from maternity leave (ironic - don't you think?) so, that calmed me down. She apologized alot for my wait and explained that the doctor had an emergency at the hospital that morning. I, of course, began to calm down because if I were at the hospital in an emergency situation then I would want her to be there with me too.

Anyway, my blood pressure turned out to be a little higher than normal (136/82) which we kind of chuckled about because the nurse, my husband, and I attributed it to how heated I had become over waiting for an hour to get in to see the doctor. But, what blew my mind was the whopping 8 pound weight gain!! I have got to figure out why their scale is so much different from mine at home. I weigh myself casually at different times during the day at home and NEVER have I seen a number like I saw at the doctor's office!! I was shocked and appalled. The nurse merely wrote it down to be inserted in my permanent records. :(

Then we listened for the heartbeat. She initially put the doppler on the right side of my abdomen - no heartbeat but, lots of movement as we heard the fluid sloshing around. After about 20 seconds, she decided to move the doppler to the right side of my abdomen - again, no heartbeat but, we could hear distinct "baby movements". After another 20 seconds or so, she tried the middle of my abdomen - BULLSEYE!!! I saw my husband breathe a sigh of relief when we finally heard it. You could still tell the baby was moving around because as we listened, there was a distinct pattern to the heartbeat but, it would get louder and softer without any movement of the doppler. The heartrate was 154 bpm. I was kinda glad that she had to listen to different sides of my abdomen because it makes me more certain that there aren't two babies in there. My mother-in-law has prophetic dreams about babies (which is why she called us and asked if we were pregnant before we got a chance to call her first) and dreamed about twins over the weekend. So, since there was only one place on my whole abdomen where we could hear the heartbeat, certainly there is only one in there!

Then the doctor came in almost immediately. I think they were trying to be extra efficient with me since I had "complained" about waiting. She commented on my weight gain only to say that if I continue to gain 8 pounds a month then, I will undoubtedly be miserable this summer. Since I know that I have remained very active as far as working out and she didn't mention a health risk related to my weight gain, I am okay with it but, will try not to let it happen again. :) The doctor measured me for the first time - from my pelvic bone to the top of my uterus. It scared me at first because I am still in awe over this whole miracle that is pregnancy. It is amazing that I do nothing special and this person continues to grow inside of me. The doctor's comment on my 17 cm measurement was merely, "Perfect - you're right where you should be!" and then explained that I should be the same number of cm as I am weeks +/- 2 cm. Then she asked if I wanted the screening for Down's Syndrome, etc. and I assured her that we weren't interested.

Then came the way exciting part - we talked about scheduling my ultrasound!! :) She gave me the form for the radiology department at the hospital and adamantly advised me to not schedule it before 18 weeks. But, that's only 2 weeks away!! She also told us to make sure that we ask for the video tape. Apparently they tape all of the ultrasound sessions but, do not offer the tape to you - you must ask for it. We definitely want to rememeber to do that because the Grandparents will be so excited to see that! We have decided that we will digitize it and send them all DVD's of it. Then we talked briefly about the poor circulation problems that I have been having in my legs. She didn't speak of a solution but, just wrote it down. I guess that is something she will follow-up on next time. It concerns me because my mom was hospitalized and put on crutches while pregnant with my sister because of the poor circulation in her legs. I would prefer that we avoid that for this pregnancy! Then she assured me that I can fly until 36 weeks (which I knew but, wanted her to realize that I was planning to do some flying) and told me that she wanted to see me in 4 weeks. Painless - and only lasted 35 minutes once I complained to the receptionist. As I was leaving, the nurse assured me that if I ever had an unreasonable wait again to just walk back and talk to her.

So, on the way back to work, I realized that my impatient mother had called my cell phone while I was in the doctor's office. I decided to call her back but, my dad answered the phone at their house instead! How exciting!! That's the first time I've heard his voice since Christmas! He has been working in China since Dec 10 and just got back over the weekend. So, I talked to him instead and didn't talk to my mom until I was on the way home from work.

At work yesterday, I called and got my ultrasound scheduled for Thursday, April 14 at 10am!! That's so soon!!! :) Hopefully, they will be able to confirm my theory that this is a sweet little girl growing inside of me.