The Second Appointment: 10 weeks, 3 days

Written Tuesday, September 23, 2014: 10 weeks, 3 days

I had another appointment today, but since Andy is in the field I went by myself. I was about 15 minutes early, so got checked in and the front desk miss sent me right back to the bathroom to leave my sample. I sat in the waiting room till my appointment time and got called back right away by Mary, a nurse. We went back to the same large exam/meeting room that I was in last time.

Mary had called me the day before to get through some of the questions in advance – mostly demographic information, but some baby-related stuff like how much Andy and I weighed at birth. But to be honest, she pretty much asked them all over again at the appointment. It wasn’t a big deal, though and she was friendly. She gave me a bag of papers and goodies, told me that today was a pelvic/pap exam and moved me to a smaller exam room.

I sat for probably 10-15 minutes, and I won’t lie that I was stewing a little. I know that no one loves exams down there, but I particularly loathe them. And I’m not a fan of checking things just for the sake of checking and prefer minimal invasion. Finally Jackie, the nurse practitioner came in and she was of course lovely and I relaxed.

We first cleared up a few issues with my due date (it had never been updated, so it was kind of a mistake that they scheduled another appointment so soon – oh well!). Then we moved on to family history. Andy and I both have insignificant family histories so that was quick and easy.  She briefly reviewed the genetic testing options. I’m not interested in wasting money on any of them because we have no indications that this pregnancy won’t be healthy, and even if he/she has some genetic issue it won’t change how I treat the pregnancy. Jackie said that she never tested with any of her kids and again made me feel super relaxed. I had a few other specific questions about flu shots, activity, etc. and we moved along.

Thank the Lord she did not make me do the pap. I pretty much told her I didn’t want to do it and she agreed. She did another general physical exam of breathing, boobs, whatever before getting the Doppler. I knew that it was a little early to hear the heartbeat so I wasn’t expecting this to work. She fiddled for a while but no luck because I guess I have a well-toned stomach. She moved me next door to the ultrasound tech’s room to get a bonus peak of the little dude.

I forget her name, but she had shut down for the day already, and had a tough time getting the thing to reboot.  She did try an abdominal ultrasound, but nothing was showing up because I guess my intestines were blocking the view. That meant another internal, which I accepted and let her get prepped.

In the meantime, someone from the lab walked over and took a blood sample. Did I mention that they’re doing an early A1c since both of my sisters had gestational diabetes? And at my previous appointment, my sugar was 140 because I had a plate of ravioli at Avanti’s beforehand. Oops! I’m still not worried.

Speaking of worries, maybe I’m in a particularly good mood or something, but I have had pretty much no fears about this kid as of late. It’s so weird and unlike me.  Even when Jackie didn’t find a heartbeat with the Doppler I wasn’t at all concerned. It took the tech probably 10 minutes to get the machine up and running, but as soon as the wand was set she found a heartbeat right away. It measured 179, right about what it was last time.  There was a separate screen attached to the wall that she pulled out so I could see.

This kid was really moving. The tech commented on how this was particularly a lot of movement for this stage. It pretty much looked like him or her was jumping on a trampoline that was my uterine wall. It’s so cool and weird that all of that is happening in my body and for the most part I’m oblivious.  I took my pictures and bag of goods and was on my way.

Next appointment is in 4 weeks exactly – I’ll be in the middle of my 15^th week!