August 1st was my nursing intake appointment, aka my very first prenatal visit! I was verrrrry excited for our appointment and maybe a tad nervous. By this point, I'd known that I was pregnant for almost a month! That was a long time to wait for an appointment, in my opinion. But I'd rather be healthy and wait for an appointment than be high risk and get one right away. The appointment was pretty basic- filled out some paperwork, answered a lot of questions and asked a few of my own. Honestly, since I've been reading a lot about pregnancy stuff (the do's and don'ts and basic info) I didn't learn much at this appointment. The nurse said my due date is March 2, 2013, but I had already calculated that. She also told me not to get my heart rate above 140 when I work out (which my OB later said is false and I can work out as much as I want since I'm very healthy and accustomed to working out). We learned a little about some screenings and tests and declined the maternal serum testing. Nothing super exciting. But then! Ohhh then the nurse decided to try and hear the baby's heartbeat via a Doppler machine. Yay!! I was really hoping to hear baby's heartbeat (and see baby) at this appointment so I was happy about that. Well, after what felt like an eternity of pressing that little machine against my tummy, the heartbeat was nowhere to be found! She picked up my heartbeat a couple times and my heart sank when she informed us that it was me and not the baby. Gahh! The nurse asked if I have a tilted uterus and I told her that I don't, she scowled and kept trying. I was a little worried at this point so the nurse decided to go see if someone would do an ultrasound on me. She said it wasn't guaranteed that they'd be able to, but she left to ask. She was gone for a long time before she finally brought back the good news that we would be getting an ultrasound! YAY!! That 20 minutes waiting to hear what was going to happen was brutal, though. Jake and I were both trying not to panic despite the fact that we were very concerned! We tried to tell ourselves it was fine because baby was so little... but we couldn't help worrying! Welcome to parenthood, I guess, haha. Anyways, my gynecologist ended up giving us an ultrasound and it was incredible! She found the baby right away! Jake and I were mesmerized by the little image of our baby on the screen. Then she located the heartbeat! I'm not exaggerating when I say that hearing our baby's heartbeat for the first time was a life-changing experience! I cried. It was incredibly moving and just miraculous!! There is a live little baby growing inside of me!! I loved seeing him/her and listening to their heartbeat. It sounded so fast and fluttery! It was soft and rhythmic- amazing! AMAZING! I was in awe. And so unbelievably HAPPY! My gosh, that was the most moving experience of my life. She printed us a couple little pictures of our bean baby (as we took to calling him/her) and our appointment was over. I left in a state of euphoria!
My second appointment was with my obstetrician on August 7th. I was excited for this appointment but much more nervous since I knew I'd be getting blood work done. I hate needles and blood and I'm just not good with either so I wasn't looking forward to that part of my appointment. This visit was more clinical, for lack of a better way to describe it. They couldn't find the heartbeat with the Doppler again so we had our second ultrasound! It was fun to see our little bean again! We didn't get pictures or hear the heartbeat this time, though. We could see the heart beating, which was neat. It was like a little blinking light. I would've preferred to hear it again but at least we knew baby was doing well! Then came all the not-so-fun stuff, pap smear, pelvic exam and blood work. Yucky. Jake was so awesome during it all, though! He held my hand and talked to me while I got my blood drawn and was just so great. It helped a lot to have someone there supporting and distracting me. I know it probably doesn't sound like a big deal to most people but it meant a lot to me. After my blood draw was over, I sat in the waiting room drinking orange juice until I felt less queasy. As a treat for making it through that nightmare, Jake treated me to lunch at a restaurant that I love! It was so sweet of him. Overall, my second appointment was good. I really really like my OB! She's personable and very smart. And she's younger, which I appreciate. I know older doctors come with a lot of experience but I was hoping to have a younger doctor. Someone who's more current, if that makes sense. When I told her what the nurse had told me about not getting my heart rate above 140 when I work out, she was so encouraging and told me that since I'm used to working out and I'm very healthy, I don't have to worry about that. She said that working out is good for me and baby and I should do whatever I feel comfortable with! She gave me some basic guidelines like no contact sports or things that risk falling and trauma to my abdomen. It was nice to hear that! After my first appointment I was thinking that all I can really do to workout would be walking and light weights- boring stuff that isn't challenging. Now I know that I can do so much more! That was big for me. I really like my OB. I think she's going to be a great fit for me.
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