For those of you who ran out to your nearest office supply store in search of the largest size possible red permanent marker, so big you have to use two hands to hold it, in order to mark your calendars when I mentioned the date of our next prenatal appointment, and then realized you would need an equally sized GREEN marker with which to note the countdown of days and/or hours unTIL the appointment,... I have come to you with an update.
Yesterday I saw one of the OBs at the practice that I am in love with, as mentioned in the Hey, Where’s My Free Personal Razor? blog entry of Wednesday, April 4.
Short version: All is well.
Nicky version / Commentary:
I've been afraid that so far, the midwives and now this OB may think that I'm a simultaneous cross between being neurotic about and uninterested in my pregnancy. I've had no real symptoms to speak of, besides the breast tenderness, which stopped somewhere around 14 weeks. This brought out the neurotic side. I had to go on-line to confirm that that IS normal to stop at around that time. While, of course, I was happy to be able to give bear hugs again without the breast tenderness, and not have to muckle on to my aforementioned upperbody parts as I went down any flight of stairs (I know - picture little Nicky taking such comfort measures), I had an extended moment of panic when my only real symptom of pregnancy was gone. Yes, I was getting a little thicker around the middle, and no, I hadn't had a period since the end of January. But still... shouldn't I be feeling SOMEthing else a little more dramatic than this??
Then there's been my lack of questions for them at my appointments, which I can only imagine makes them wonder, "Isn't this woman at all curious about what's happening to her body and her baby??" But, I read a lot on line, in books, and in magazines, that I figure I don't need to bother them with questions that I can just find the answer to on my own, and find it immediately as opposed to waiting until the next monthly appointment. I'm sure I'll have more questions as things progress, right??
But back to the neurotic side: The only thing I really needed to get out of yesterday's appointment, whether they were planning on doing it or not, was to hear the heartbeat with the Doppler device. Just to make sure that I haven't been dreaming this whole time (that would be one for Nicky's dream books), and that I really did have an active "tot" in there, as Nate says.
So, the OB obliged me (I'm guessing it would have been routine to do it anyway), and it took a little bit of time searching to get a clear sound, approximately 4 hours according to my sense of time. During this time I stared at the ceiling thinking, "This is when she's going to tell me there's no heartbeat. I will have seen this coming. I haven't been feeling pregnant. I can take it. Then she'll really be perplexed when I don't immediately start bawling because I'll just be so numb..." and then she FINALLY said - "It is there, it just keeps moving on me"... and then she settled on a spot and we heard 140 beats per minute. SIGH......................... She also explained that the background "swooshing" sound was the sound of the baby moving around. WILD.
As she was talking to me afterwards, I became aware that I had taken the lower-half fabric drape off of my lap, as I was wearing a long dress anyway and didn't really need it, and was folding it as she was talking. It was a big square, that I folded in half. And then in half again. And in half again. And again. It ended up being personal-towlette-sized, and I realized, I am unable to un-do that little spectacle of neurosis that I just performed in front of her. We are ending the visit on that note and she thinks I am a complete freak.
But I got over that just as soon as we set up my next appointment, otherwise known as the, drumroll please... 20-WEEK ULTRASOUND APPOINTMENT! And seeing as how I was over16 and a half weeks at yesterday's appointment, she suggested scheduling the next one for 3 weeks from then, so I'd be over 19 and a half, or PRACTICALLY 20 weeks. But THEN, due to summer vacation schedules, and needing to have a doctor and an ultrasound tech available on the same day for this appointment, they had to MOVE IT UP A WEEK, so the date we settled on was a mere TWO WEEKS from yesterday!!!!!!!! Meaning 1 week and 6 days from today!!! And today's practically over with, so it's close enough to ONE WEEK AND FIVE DAYS, which is 1-5, or 15, which is the date in January of my birthday!!!! Which must have some kind of COSMIC MEANING, which-- okay, okay, I'll stop. But needless to say, I don't know how I could have possibly expressed my excitement of such a fast-approaching ultrasound appointment without the use of the CAPS LOCK feature on my keyboard. And EXCLAMATION MARKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am now in particular love with the front desk scheduling lady for rigging up such a sweet appointment date for me. I'll have to find out when her birthday is. And what her favorite flower is.
As I was walking to my car, I was so excited when I reached into my purse to call Nate with the update that instead of my cell phone, I pulled out my credit card, looked at it for a second, then realized that I wouldn't be able to call him very well with that object. Yes, I drove myself to work safely.
So if you haven't done so already, you have another chance to run out and go get your new, full-of-ink permanent markers with which to note June 13th as the next milestone in this trip we call my pregnancy.
Until next month,
This is
Nicky and Nate
16 weeks 6 days
Thursday, May 31, 2007
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