First Appointment

It was awesome!


As usual, I had to wait some until I got taken back. Brandon was with me. It used to make me want to giggle seeing the boys in the waiting room while I was waiting for my annual and this time he was there! So was another dude with his wife, but I'll do my usual thing and comment about that later...because I'm a pain in the ass, as we all know.


Anyways, I went back, talked to the nurse, and had to pee in a cup. I don't usually have to pee in a cup, but I just knew I'd have to do so today. This is where I'll reference that first couple for the first time. While we were waiting in the waiting room, I noticed her drinking some water. It looked like a little cup the airlines give you when you're flying, and I thought to myself, "Omg, I bet she peed before she came in and is now trying to load up to pee in a cup. Dumb." Of course I don't KNOW that was what she was doing, but who else sips water from a little plastic cup in a waiting room waiting for a doc to put his/her fingers up your hoohah? Not me. Not unless I need to pee and I've timed it badly.


Back to the appointment, I got to do the usual strip down and put the gown on backwards and sit cold on the table. I'm always cold in there. To their credit, in the colder months, there is usually a heater. I don't think they expected me to get cold, but, I was. I usually have to wait a little more time before seeing the doc, but Brandon was with me this time. That didn't really make a difference since, almost naked and waiting for a doc to look at my private parts isn't the most stimulating time to converse, he just played on his phone and I did the usual stare at everything in the room hearing every sound in the office that passed through the walls.


Oh, we also got to stare at an ultrasound machine with a super long condom (seriously, it was a condom. maybe they don't call it that, but the extras were rolled up like one and it looked exactly like one...except the length) on a wand thing that could only go in one orifice. Yep, there. I looked at Brandon and said, "That's gonna go in me." I was scared because holy S it was long.


Then a knock! Oh, just the other nurse taking the ultrasound machine and it's condoms to be used elsewhere. Ok.


Finally, the doc came in. I really don't know how long we waited. It honestly could have been 5 minutes...but it always seems longer. It was time for my annual (and I don't know if she'd have done this stuff whether it was time or not) but I got the usual exam. The little scraping all of us girls know they take hurt more than usual, but I'd read about that already. That area is apparently more soft and tender now, and I was warned there may be spotting so don't freak, I'll be ok and so will the baby.


Then my nurse came back in with the ultrasound machine, again, and I learned that not much of the length of that wand was used. Phew. I really was scared about that!


What was I expecting about the ultrasound? I knew it was a tad early so they wouldn't be putting a thingy on my tummy, but that it would go where it went, so that wasn't a surprise. I thought I'd be like Rachel on Friends when she was crying because that little blob thing on the screen that she couldn't see was her baby. I was expecting that.


What I was not expecting? To totally recognize my baby on the screen and know that those little protrusions I saw were the baby's arms and legs!!! I'd been reading the week by week in my books and saw the little pictures they included, but I didn't know I'd be able to decipher it myself when I saw it on the screen! (of course when I show you the pictures they won't be as awesome as the real time view, as since it is 2D, she had to adjust the angles to show how the arms and legs were longer and easier to see, but they're there!)


What else was I not expecting? To hear the baby's heart beat!!!  Oh my gosh, I know it's so cliche to be all excited about hearing the whump-whump-whump on the ultrasound machine (and trust me, I've dopplered a crap ton of pulses on surgical patients in my time. It's just a freaking heart beat, right?), but it was a heart beat from a less than 2 centimeter little head, body, arms, and legs that is nesting somewhere between my hip bones this second! Me and Brandon made that! And you could SEE the heart beat on the ultrasound! (not so noticeable on the pictures, obviously, as they're not really flash images that move, ya know.)


Doc said the baby is measuring "right on the money," and that made me very happy. She printed off some pictures for us and her, and sent me off for lab work. Oh, and gave me this huge book written by a doc in the office (who happens to be either a professor or an associate professor for the school associated with my hospital which was also just ranked as the #1 hospital in my city!), and some other junk.


Now, back to being Kimish. We just had to go across the hall to the lab, sign in, and wait to be called. That chick who was drinking the water was in there writing a check for her lab fees. (I guess her insurance or whatever has her do it that way, no idea). It was only a little annoying because I'd have loved to just signed my freaking name on the sign in and go sit down...but I had to wait. But I'm not going to harp on that too much because it really is a lame thing to get annoyed by. I just wanted to sit because I'm lazy. So she finishes and they tell her she can come on back and she says, "Can my husband come back there with me?" REALLY? It's a teeny tiny needle that will be in your arm for less than 30 seconds most likely, then you're done to go. I look at Brandon and say, "Uhm, you can sit here if you want...Do you even want to go back there? I'm a big girl and I don't feel like I need you there for that." I got chastised for my "big girl" comment, as obviously I was passing judgement on that chick, but maybe she doesn't remember how small the rooms are like I do...maybe she's a blood-a-phobe, though I'm not sure what the moral support will help with other than to stare at you as you pass out in the chair you're sitting in. And in my experience, boy aren't that much help when it comes to needles because they are either a) so interested in the needle or other aspect of what's going on that they forget to adequately distract you from the event, or b) are phobes themselves and thus aren't any help at all because they'll likely be the ones passing out.


Anyways, from here on out the doc said she'd see me about every 4 weeks. I think my next ultrasound is at 18 weeks and I THINK I'll get to find out the gender of my little minion at that time. At some point the appointments will be every 2 weeks, then every week until the minion arrives.


So, this was a big part of our journey! And it satisfies everyone who doesn't seem to believe or whatever that you're pregnant until you see the doctor, because somehow everyone is convinced that over the counter pregnancy tests are associated with high false positives (not true, especially of pink dye tests). If the docs don't want to see you until you're about 8 weeks pregnant, I think it's safe to assume you are. Besides, if that one big indicator, your period, never shows in that time? You're so pregnant.


Ultrasound picture time!!!


Some state measuring 8w1d and another at 8w3d...but I'd say our due date is holding steady at beginning of November!

This one is when we got to hear the heartbeat! On the right is the heartbeat's signal.

See the perfect little baby?! (of course I'm freaking biased!)

Does this help with what you're looking at?