Let me start by saying that even though the tests (a total of 5, by the way.... did I leave that out in earlier posts....?) told me I was officially pregnant, it's a little hard to wrap your head around the idea that there is a small human being growing inside of you. After walking out of the doctor's office on that mild December morning, it finally became real to Brian and I that this was really happening.
I guess it was a typical first visit. Brian and I first sat down with Martha, one of the nurses who's been doing this baby thing forever (over 20 years she said), for our interview. She asked lots of questions about our health, our family members' health, answered any questions or concerns that we had, and she gave us lots of information on newborn classes (i.e. Daddy Boot Camp, birthing classes, Newborn 101, etc). We'll be signing up for some of those in the future.
Following the visit with Martha, I went to the lab portion of the office to give my "sample" and have 5 (yes, FIVE) vials of blood drawn. This girl doesn't really do well with needles, so I asked the tech to distract me while she did this. The sound of the blood gushing into those vials is enough to make my stomach turn even now, almost 4 weeks later.
Ok, blood drawn, it was now time to go sit down with one of the eight OB's in the practice that I go to. They like to have each patient meet every doctor, so you are at least familiar with the person who will be delivering your baby. We got to meet Dr. Harden this time. He's a wonderfully sweet man who has a semi-dry sense of humor. The first thing he did when he walked into the office was shake Brian's hand and say "Congratulations, man, good work!" Priceless.
After a short talk with Dr. Harden, he took both of us down to one of the ultrasound rooms to have a little peek at the kiddo. We were able to get the first look at our little "gummy bear sized baby" (as Dr. Harden put it). It looked like a little white blob, just the size of a gummy bear. Nothing fancy when you first look at it, but the best part was that when the doctor held the device really still we were able to see the heartbeat! A little gray flutter on the screen was all we needed to slap some giant smiles on our faces. Dr. Harden printed out a few pictures for us-- one is posted at the top of this entry.
Next visit is scheduled for January 6th. I'm pretty sure it'll just be another physical, but I also think we get to hear the heartbeat. Don't think they'll be another ultrasound until we find out the sex later on, but that's ok. I just want to make sure the kiddo is still there and looking healthy so far, and hearing a heartbeat will do that for me.
We'll keep you posted!
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