Piece of My Heart*

Written on June 20, 2011

Today, we went to see the doctor for the very first time to confirm our pregnancy.  I have been so excited about this appointment that I have not slept in three days.  I have also been a little nervous.  When you are still so early in your pregnancy and you can’t really see or feel anything from the baby, it’s easy to worry about whether everything’s okay.

We decided to confirm my pregnancy with Dr. Lucas in Charlotte.  I was in Charlotte for work anyway, and he’s been my doctor since I was approximately 13.  I L-O-V-E  Dr. Lucas, so I really wanted to at least get to see him for our first appointment (if you are in Charlotte, and need a doctor for all things lady parts, GO SEE HIM!  He is nothing short of fantastic, and you can find him here).  Dan was able to move some things around in his schedule and be there for the appointment, too, which I was extra happy about.  I knew we’d both have lots of questions, and I knew from my sister-in-law that the first appointment would be full of a lot of information, so it was really nice that we could both be there for it.

Due to the unpredictability of my cycle, I had a general idea of when we conceived but wasn’t 100% sure.  If we had gone by the first day of my last period, which is how your due date is typically determined, I would be 11 weeks along.  I was pretty sure that was inaccurate.  I did not learn until we got to the doctor that my doctor typically does not do ultrasounds at your confirmation appointment – ultrasounds are typically scheduled separately.  Because my cycle is so irregular, we had to wait a little while, but they were able to work us in for an ultrasound.  I was perfectly fine with this – in fact, I’d been crossing my fingers and secretly hoping that they’d have to do this, because I REALLY wanted to see our baby. 

The ultrasound technician was so nice and informative, and showed us all kinds of pictures of Herschel/Geronimo/Voldemort.  He/she really just looks like a little blob at this point, but I was happy to get to see him/her nonetheless: 

We also had the single most incredible experience of our whole life: we got to hear the baby’s heartbeat.  I’m sure you’ll all be shocked to read that I cried.  Our ultrasound technician told us that it was truly a miracle that we came the day we did, because the baby’s heart had literally JUST begun to beat, and had we come any sooner we wouldn’t have been able to hear it.   She let us listen a few more times to tide us over to our next appointment.  We were floating in the clouds.  The heartbeat sounded a little slow to her, but she assured us that we had nothing to worry about and attributed it to the fact that it just started beating.  To be safe, she told us to schedule another ultrasound in two weeks just to double check and make sure everything was okay.  Fine by me, I’ll see our baby as many times as you’ll let me!

We determined that I’m actually only 6 weeks along, which is 1 week earlier than I calculated.  Our official due date is now February 13 (Syd’s birthday!), and I am happy to report that all is well with Mommy and baby.  Now, if Mommy could stop eating her way through an entire continent, it would be a miracle.  At the rate I’m going, I’m going to have to start buying maternity clothes sooner than anticipated!

More updates to come soon!

Sarah

*Afterthought: I'm not sure why my first few blog thoughts were all named after songs?!