Mar 02 2008
Baby’s Heartbeat
This past Wednesday, February 27, I had my first OB/GYN appointment in over a year. My nether regions have been under the care of my infertility specialist since December 27, 2006, where I’ve had so many pelvic ultrasounds that dropping my drawers for a male doctor doesn’t even phase me anymore. (This is coming from someone who refused to go to a male OB/GYN.)
My OB/GYN is the one who urged me to see a specialist and seek fertility treatment when she did a laparospy and found this. (WARNING: Clicking that link will bring you to a link showing a graphic photo of my innards.) Two years since, she was absolutely tickled to see that I had a successful in vitro fertilization procedure and am pregnant.
The doctor sat me down in her office and gave me the do’s and don’ts about pregnancy and asked me about my physical status. I told her about my “all day sickness” and she said that since the baby is roughly the size of a peanut, that I shouldn’t worry too much about trying to force myself to eat right now. She just stressed drinking lots of liquids — which I normally do anyway. She told me, “don’t worry about eating. If all you can keep down is flat Coke, I’m fine with that — for now.” Thankfully, I’m doing a little better than that, so I was glad to see that I am not endangering the baby with my poor diet at this point.
In the examination room, she did the routine gyn exam, then rubbed some cold gel on my tummy. With an ingenious little gadget called a Doppler, we were able to hear the fetal heartbeat. “Listen to that! The baby is doing fantastic!” the doctor said. There’s nothing like hearing the steady, rapid heartbeat coming through the monitor to really bring home the reality of the pregnancy. During the first trimester when the only indication of the life that is growing inside of you is the awful all-day sour stomach, it’s nice to have something positive to reinforce it to help you swallow hard and press on.
My next step is an appointment with a specialist who will do genetic testing. My doctor said that there are alternatives to amniocentesis (thank God) and that they would probably do the screening through blood tests. So, of course, lots more praying will be involved, that the baby is free of genetic defects such as Down Syndrome.
The last order of business was to give me a prenatal pack (pictured at the top of the entry), which contained a travel toiletry bag, a pregnancy journal, free magazines and a sample of Huggies. Gotta love the baby swag!
A 30-something Christian girl, blissfully wedded to her perfect match (the yang to her yin) of 14 years. Living life in Hawaii, less than 5 miles from her hometown, a slave to her mortgage payment, but seeking balance in her pursuit of family, faith, recreation, and rest.
Geez. The baby in your sidebar widget looks haole to me. Is there something you’re not telling us?
An exciting (an sometimes stressful) time for you. I remember when my wife was pregnant and we went through the debating about amniocentesis. We ended up not doing it and just going by the ultrasound measurements. Whatever you choose, my thoughts are with you! And it’s so exciting hearing the heartbeat, isn’t it?
I always enjoyed going with my wife to the doc for the ultrasounds. So amazing!
yup, baby swag is fun, you’ll need it!
We opted not to have the amniocenthesis because 1) I hate needles and 2) I HATE needles. Actually we did a nuchal translucency which involved a simple finger prick of blood and the measurement of the fluid at the back of the baby’s neck. While not 100 percent guaranteed, it was good enough for us. The test is used in Europe and pretty darn accurate. The problem in the US, as I recall when I had it in 2005, was the number of qualified technicians. I am sure there are more now. Our percentages were that of a 21 year old I recall, and I was 34 at the time. My SIL had the amnio only because her brother has Down’s, so she wanted to make sure it was not carried even though it isn’t really hereditery. There are so many tests out there, but if you go to a specialist, you fill out a form and based upon different factors, they tell you which ones you should take. Some diseases are based upon ethnicity, etc. I’m sure you read these all… Oh, and get all the free stuff you can get… you’ll need it!
With Carter we did the Fetal Diagnostic Center (Dr. Hirata). They were fantastic. It was really interesting and pretty painless, and we got lots of good 3D ultrasound pics too
You can also find out the baby’s sex at about 14-15 weeks! I keep thinking boy for you, so go ahead and surprise me with a girl, LOL.
Oh the baby swag! If you think you’ll get a bunch now, just WAIT until you get into your third trimester! My mail box has been filling up with all kinds of baby mail, both email and snail! I had a package waiting for me in the apartment offices the other day. I wasn’t expecting a package so I was very surprised to find out a formula company had sent me a diaper bag! I don’t plan on using formula but I sure will use that diaper bag.
I found the “As Your Baby Grows” magazine so interesting. I tried not to look ahead and only read the portions that applied to me as Jordan grew, but it was tough! I think they actually have a version of it on DVD now.
FYI-natural prenatal vitamins can be purchased at Costco. They are really good, made by Nature Made I believe. When your doctor advises, it would be a good investment and it’s all natural!!!
Yay for you! Congratulations!
(Found you through the headlines on the BlogHer network.)
For some reason the nurse at the Kaiser maternity ward took a liking to my wife and gave her about 2-3 times as much stuff (disposable diapers, baby wipes, baby powder, etc.) in the take-home basket. So I guess the lesson is to make nice nice to the nurses.