Appointment Dos

I have never been so excited for a Monday! All weekend I’ve been trying my hardest to enjoy my days off, but the anticipation of hearing the heartbeat again kept me wishing for my Monday alarm.

Sometimes I still question if there is a baby in there. It’s hard to connect when I haven’t been very sick, don’t have a noticeable bump, and can’t yet feel the little one swimming about. That’s why I LOVE my appointments – hearing the heartbeat is the glue that pieces all of these feelings together. It’s real, there is a life inside of me, and I’m going to be its’ mama for life.

We started with all the basics – pulse, blood pressure, weight, pee in a cup. All was normal. I turned in my homework – getting to know you questionnaire, nutrition chart, and screening selections. We opted to only have one ultrasound and forego each of the genetic tests. Regardless of our baby’s imperfections (let’s face it, we all have them to varying degress) this baby is ours and we will love it to the fullest. Therefore, I didn’t see a necessity in getting risk percentages and potentially worrying about something that might not even come true. The ultrasound isn’t technically a necessity, but I really wanted to have a picture to stare at 24/7 :) Other benefits are measuring size/development and placenta placement.

I had a list of questions for Adele too …

• Breast pump recommendations – I’ve got a connection to get a Medela breast pump at wholesale and Adele confirmed that Medela is the best route to go.
• Is acupuncture safe while pregnant? Yes, it is actually encouraged … YEAH! I have a gift certificate and have been wanting to try it out. She said I might get addicted :) I had thought this might be a good thing for me to check out, because I can be “high stress”. Adele, Dominic, and I laughed about this self-diagnosis, but it’s true so I figured I should start preparing for calmness now.
• Childbirth class recommendations – Andaluz hosts one we could take that meets once a week. She recommended we begin it 8-10 weeks before our due date.
• Thoughts on Hypnobirth – I have watched a whole bunch of A Baby Story episodes and the calmest birth was by a mom who had a waterbirth and practiced Hypnobirth. I doubt I’ll be really successful with it, but I figure if I at least give it a try it might put me at a normal baseline of stress/calm. IAdele thought it was a good thing to look into; I’m going to get a book and some CDs soon.
• Ultrasound plans – It’s right around the corner!!! She recommended that we aim for the 20 week mark which is only 6 weeks away. I can’t believe we are that close to halfway! I’m going to call my primary care doctor so I can try and get my insurance to cover this expense through her office. I can schedule it somewhere between May 17th and 28th and those days can’t come soon enough!!!
• My belly button – I’m kind of bearing all and I’m sure it is only going to get worse as weirder things start to happen. Here is the scoop on my belly button (I will spare you a photo). I’ve always had a little nub on the inside … my pediatrician offered to snip it off when I was little (for cosmetic reasons), but he said I would bleed like a stuck pig (his exact words) so my mom decided not to put me through a traumatic exerpience like that. Now that I had a little nub, my mom needed to weave a special story … She always told me belly buttons are how God checks to see if the baby is ready to be born yet. On the due date, he taps the belly button, like when you check muffins or cookies in the oven. If the dough stays put the baby is ready. If there is a little sticky batter left on God’s finger, the baby needs more time to bake. This story obiously explained why I was born a week after my due date and have a belly button nub. God checked me, the batter popped up (creating a nub) and I baked for another week. My mom is such a creative genius, I hope I can come up with stories half as good as that! Now that my tummy is starting to stretch it is … changing. The nub is still there, but now there is a second bump and yes, I went as far as to think that it might explode and I didn’t quite know how to deal with exploding belly buttons. So, all that to say, I asked Adele to check it out. She said it was normal and to not worry … just like my mom had said. PHEWPH!!!

Last but not least, we got to hear the hearbeat again! It was 10 times louder and sounded perfect. Our little one kept swimming from side to side so she had to follow it with the Doppler. So cute, my little swimmer :)

Next appointment is with Lucina on May 12th. Let another countdown begin!