2nd Doctor's Appointment

Today we had our 2nd doctor's appointment. I was a little worried it would be cancelled because there was major storm damage in Wheaton & I wasn't sure if the office had power. Luckily they did, so we were good to go! Although we were about 15 min late due to all the down traffic lights...

The appointment was with Dr. Larry, who happens to be the son of the doctor who delivered my sister, Lauren. Funny. I think I mentioned it before, but we are required to see each of the 6 doctors in the practice at some point during our pregnancy. So today we met with the first "boy doctor". I am definitely not thrilled about some guy being all up in my business, and even though people say I'll get used to it, I don't think I will. Gross.

Moving on.

I wasn't sure what was on the agenda for this appointment, as things are still early. I was given a huge packet of info at our 1st appointment about all the different genetic testing they can do, so I thought they might bring that up again. Rich & I had talked about it, and we decided against doing any of the tests. If there is something majorly wrong, they will know at our big ultrasound appointment around 20 weeks. But really, no test result would make us change our mind about having this baby. We don't have a family history of anything and don't have any of the risk factors. Plus, not all of the tests are 100% positive anyway. So when the doctor asked today, we told him thanks but no thanks.

The nurse took all my vitals- another urine test, blood pressure, & weight. I lost 2 lbs, but they said that's not an issue at this point. I wasn't surprised given my total lack of appetite lately. Then she had me lay down so that she could listen to the baby's heart beat. She used a "doppler ultrasound" which looks like this:

It's a little portable, hand held device. She put some gel on my stomach and got to work. And...nothing. I tried to read her face & see if she was anxious or worried. I couldn't read her. I asked her if anything was wrong, and said that it was still early. Still, I was worried. I silently prayed over and over, "Lord please let there be a heartbeat. Let there be a strong heartbeat. Help them find it." She gave up after a few minutes, and the doctor came in. He was really friendly, and said that the doppler is a lot less sensitive than the big ultrasound machines and not to worry at all.

**Hey nurse- it would be been really great of you to share that info with the nervous 1st time pregnant lady you are poking in the gut. Whatever.

The doctor did not seem worried at all, and brought us into a different room to do the ultrasound. Thankfully, he found the heartbeat right away. He said it was strong & about 160+ bpm. I was so relieved! We were not expecting to have an ultrasound, and it was a special treat to get to see the baby! It actually had distinguishable arms & legs! WOW! The baby is about 2.5 inches long now- simply amazing. I don't think I'll ever get over how incredible this whole process is...

After we confirmed the heartbeat, the nurse came back in and took some blood (kind of a lot of blood actually). Our next appointment will be on August 7th at 1pm with our regular doctor! YAY!