The Doctor's Appointment

I'm sorry about the delay. I am a few posts behind. I know we'll have two for today, maybe even three if I take some belly pictures this evening. So, anyway, about my appoinment.

My appointment was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. yesterday afternoon. We got there about 5 minutes early and then waited for a long time. The other negative was they made me pay a copay again. They said last time was just an ultrasound visit and since it wasn't my "first appointment", I still owed the copay for that. I didn't really agree, but whatever, even if this baby costs $40 in doctor's fees, I'm still getting a deal. I didn't end up seeing the doctor until about 3:15 p.m. When they took me back I had to leave a urine sample, get weighed, and blood pressure taken. Apparently all seems fine there. Then the nurse asked me to undress from the waist down and wait on the table for Dr. D.

The doctor came in and asked how we were doing. Briefly went over my history to be sure nothing had changed, (i.e., was I satisfied with my negative HIV test from August and didn't need to be tested again, etc.) Then she did a quick Pap. After all that stuff, we got to the interesting part, another ultrasound.

As soon, as we saw the baby I immediately noticed how much bigger it was than last time. They do the measurements in milimeters and the first time it was 13, now it is 36.5. To translate for those of us who aren't that great with metric. Before it was about a 1/2 inch. Now it is about 1 1/2 inches. It's tripled in size in the last three weeks. Before we even started looking for the heartbeat, the baby moved it's head! It was so cool. It wasn't movement like it was floating around, but like it jerked it's head. It was the best part. Then she showed us the heartbeating again. She didn't let us linger and look too long. She printed us two pictures and that was it. On a sidenote, I need to work on getting the pictures to post. We tried scanning them at the neighbor's last night, but they kept getting distorted.

After the exam and ultrasound, she asked if we had any questions. Eric had none, but I asked the important ones. 1. Can I get my hair colored? Answer: Yes. 2. Can I eat blue cheese? Especially, dressing on my chicken wings? Answer: Yes. She wants to see me again in 5 weeks. She mentioned that at that appointment we'll be able to hear the baby. Eric, then brought up that we rented a Doppler and heard it at home. She didn't seem upset, but said she was surprised we heard it. She asked if we were sure it was the baby. She said, she has trouble finding it that early. I'm pretty sure it was the baby. I found my heart rate too, and the baby's was much faster and completely different. Although, sometimes it takes me 10-15 minutes to find it, so I can see why she wouldn't try.

I'm scheduled again for July 1st. My main goal at that appointment will be to convice her to do a 20 week ultrasound at the end of July, to let us know the sex. I think I'll tell her that I'm going to have one done and if she won't do it, I'll go somewhere else and pay out of pocket. I'd rather her do it and have it in my medical records, but if she won't do it until 32 weeks...I just don't want to wait that long.

Also, I've moved my due date to 12/18/04. My estimate based on estimated ovulation was 12/17, the first ultrasound measurements showed 12/18, this ultrasound lost another day and showed 12/19. I'll pick the middle one, and say 12/18, which means I'll be 11 weeks officially tomorrow. I'll do the updates for the upcoming 12th week on Monday after we get back in town. Now, please read my next post about today's drama.