So we finally had an OB and an appt. scheduled for July 25th. I was not sure what to expect from this appt, but I knew I was excited. I wanted to see what my baby looked like via ultrasound, I wanted to hear his heartbeat, and most of all I just wanted reassurance that the baby was where it should be, had a heart beat and was healthy. I told work I had a Dentist Appt (definitely not ready to let them know I was expecting yet) and headed over to Evergreen Hospital where Andrew would meet me.
I arrived early, but I am early to everything and it ends up they were running late. So Andrew and I definitely had time to get acquainted with the waiting room and the reading material they had to offer (a lot of pregnancy and parenting magazines, not many guys’ magazines for Andrew). When they called us back I had to give them a urine sample (always fun), they took my blood pressure (not a problem) and they had me stand on a scale (easier than it would be in later months). After all of that they started taking a detailed medical history of all of the things that afflicts both my family and Andrew's. I found out that overall my family seems pretty healthy, Andrew's had a few items come up but nothing to worry about (especially after I found out that spina bifida is not genetic, and since it was on Andrew's side should not have an effect on this baby). The doctor finally came in and introduced herself and started doing her thing. Her thing included feeling my stomach for the outlines of my uterus, a oh-so-fun internal exam where she also palpated the uterus and did the initial pap smear and other cultures (i am guessing). Then the fun part came - she found the heartbeat on the doplar - a perfect 155 beats per minute. That was exactly what I wanted to hear to reassure me that everything was going to be alright! The last step of the appt was to give a blood sample to test for all sorts of things. One of my main concerns was that I have O- blood and Andrew has A+ blood which means that I most likely will have RH incompatibility and have to make sure that if I ever have any spotting or bleeding I have to get a shot of Rhogram to prevent my body from destroying future children (such a positive thought). We also got to schedule the ultrasound for the next Tuesday (July 29th) and I couldn't wait to get there!
We went home and had a wonderful weekend. On Monday I got a glimpse of how much one can worry while pregnant (and probably for the next 20 years). Around 10am while I was at work I received a message on my cell phone from the nurse at the OB's office asking me to call ASAP. As soon as I received the message I called her back to find out what was going on. Apparently my blood test came back and my HCG (the hormone that is tested to find out if you are pregnant) was ZERO, she said that they wanted to retest my blood to make sure, but that I may not be pregnant. I panicked; I asked her how we could have heard a heartbeat on Friday if I was not pregnant. She then said that most likely it was a lab error, and if I could come in as soon as possible. She was very nice and apologetic, but wanted to make sure we got the correct results as soon as we could so that there would be nothing to worry about. I went in at lunch that day and they re-took my blood, saying that they would put a rush on the results and we would know by the end of the day. I knew it had to be a lab error, but I am a worrier at heart and worried for the rest of the afternoon about what if it wasn’t a lab error. I even googled "heartbeat found and 0 HCG" but there was no incidence of that happening on Google. Finally around 4pm I received a call from the nurse and she let me know it definitely was a lab error as my HCG was perfect (somewhere above 100,000). One hurdle down - millions more to worry about!
After that scare it was even more reassuring that we had the ultrasound the next day. I was exactly 10 weeks for the first ultrasound and our little baby looked like a swimming gerbil with a large head. He was definitely awake for the scan as he was moving his little arms and legs. It was slightly unnerving to see something moving inside me and not be able to feel it, but it was very exciting. I think the ultrasound and being able to see our baby made everything a little more real for Andrew as well. His only experiences thus far in the pregnancy had been me letting him know how tired I was and the changes that I was feeling thus far (extreme tiredness, morning sickness, feeling very "thick" around the waist, breast tenderness). Being able to see the baby moving around and seeing and hearing his heartbeat was amazing for both of us!
I arrived early, but I am early to everything and it ends up they were running late. So Andrew and I definitely had time to get acquainted with the waiting room and the reading material they had to offer (a lot of pregnancy and parenting magazines, not many guys’ magazines for Andrew). When they called us back I had to give them a urine sample (always fun), they took my blood pressure (not a problem) and they had me stand on a scale (easier than it would be in later months). After all of that they started taking a detailed medical history of all of the things that afflicts both my family and Andrew's. I found out that overall my family seems pretty healthy, Andrew's had a few items come up but nothing to worry about (especially after I found out that spina bifida is not genetic, and since it was on Andrew's side should not have an effect on this baby). The doctor finally came in and introduced herself and started doing her thing. Her thing included feeling my stomach for the outlines of my uterus, a oh-so-fun internal exam where she also palpated the uterus and did the initial pap smear and other cultures (i am guessing). Then the fun part came - she found the heartbeat on the doplar - a perfect 155 beats per minute. That was exactly what I wanted to hear to reassure me that everything was going to be alright! The last step of the appt was to give a blood sample to test for all sorts of things. One of my main concerns was that I have O- blood and Andrew has A+ blood which means that I most likely will have RH incompatibility and have to make sure that if I ever have any spotting or bleeding I have to get a shot of Rhogram to prevent my body from destroying future children (such a positive thought). We also got to schedule the ultrasound for the next Tuesday (July 29th) and I couldn't wait to get there!
We went home and had a wonderful weekend. On Monday I got a glimpse of how much one can worry while pregnant (and probably for the next 20 years). Around 10am while I was at work I received a message on my cell phone from the nurse at the OB's office asking me to call ASAP. As soon as I received the message I called her back to find out what was going on. Apparently my blood test came back and my HCG (the hormone that is tested to find out if you are pregnant) was ZERO, she said that they wanted to retest my blood to make sure, but that I may not be pregnant. I panicked; I asked her how we could have heard a heartbeat on Friday if I was not pregnant. She then said that most likely it was a lab error, and if I could come in as soon as possible. She was very nice and apologetic, but wanted to make sure we got the correct results as soon as we could so that there would be nothing to worry about. I went in at lunch that day and they re-took my blood, saying that they would put a rush on the results and we would know by the end of the day. I knew it had to be a lab error, but I am a worrier at heart and worried for the rest of the afternoon about what if it wasn’t a lab error. I even googled "heartbeat found and 0 HCG" but there was no incidence of that happening on Google. Finally around 4pm I received a call from the nurse and she let me know it definitely was a lab error as my HCG was perfect (somewhere above 100,000). One hurdle down - millions more to worry about!
After that scare it was even more reassuring that we had the ultrasound the next day. I was exactly 10 weeks for the first ultrasound and our little baby looked like a swimming gerbil with a large head. He was definitely awake for the scan as he was moving his little arms and legs. It was slightly unnerving to see something moving inside me and not be able to feel it, but it was very exciting. I think the ultrasound and being able to see our baby made everything a little more real for Andrew as well. His only experiences thus far in the pregnancy had been me letting him know how tired I was and the changes that I was feeling thus far (extreme tiredness, morning sickness, feeling very "thick" around the waist, breast tenderness). Being able to see the baby moving around and seeing and hearing his heartbeat was amazing for both of us!
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