I went to my OB first the first time just the other day. I guess I could say, it was the first time since losing our little babe in August. I’ll admit that I had some apprehension about going to her.
If you read my last couple of posts, I was pretty annoyed having found out she had moved clinics, and that her front desk staff wasn’t the most helpful to me. My mom lovingly volunteered to take me to my appointment, to both act as moral support and to also help me get there and navigate the area. I had originally been happy that her office was right downtown, where I could easily park in the mall parkade. Upon arriving at the new clinic, the entire building a parking lot for exactly six cars, and we had to drive a couple of blocks to find available street parking. It was far less frustrating having someone with me, thats for sure! We made it into the office, I checked in on a computer, and we sat and waited just a couple of minutes before I was called back. They checked my height, weight, and blood pressure. I’d put it all in here if I knew any of the numbers but it was very quick and no one offered me any information. Thats probably pretty standard practice but I’ve been so spoiled with my family doctor that it kind of drives me nuts.
The nurse followed us into a room and went through a quick checklist of questions. A tiny bit of family history, how many kids I already had, vitamins, smoking, etc. Nothing too riveting. It was one of the first times I’ve had to include my little angel boys in my history. The nurse kept kind of mixing stuff up and I’d have to backtrack and correct her a little bit. “No, I don’t have any children from 2017. Well, I mean, I do, but I’m not sure they count…” It just felt gross.
My OB finally came in and we had a chat. She was encouraging and happy for me, which was nice. She asked if I was feeling sick and if I wanted medication for it. I told her I had some and ran it past her, and she okayed it. But that was as far as it really went, which I was surprised by. She asked me if I had any questions, and I had a couple. Nothing big. Finally, I just told her that I didn’t feel like I had many questions that had real answers, but that my anxiety was through the roof. We talked ultrasounds, and she asked when my next one was scheduled. Next week, I told her. She asked if I’d like one this week, also. I accepted.
(If we can all keep our opinions about the safety of ultrasounds to ourselves, I’d greatly appreciate it! I know we all have different opinions, but I’ve done my research and feel secure in my choices to have additional scans. I BEG of you not to challenge this. I am confident, but I’m not sure I could handle the guilt trip. Please understand!)
I was surprised when she printed off a requisition and told me to book one. I was very much expecting to have my scan done in the office, as is customary with most OBs, as far as I know. I had even asked Dr. Guselle about this before, she had called the OBs office on my behalf and asked, and they assured her they had ultrasound equipment on site that they would use. However, thats not how it wound up. I left with a couple of sheets of paper, a tiny bit frustrated. But let’s be real. It doesn’t take a whole lot these days :/
My mom and I were walking to the car, and she suggested I call and just see if I could get an ultrasound still that afternoon. It was after 3:00, so it was a long shot, but I tried, and sure enough, I got a 4:00 spot! It worked out well because I already had a fairly full bladder, lol! So we made a quick stop to buy a bottle of water and I chugged it back on the way to the ultrasound clinic. (Does anyone else find the chugging of the water absolutely gross and nauseating?? 🙋 I do!! )
I had never been to this clinic before. Its a brand new location on the west side, and I am SO thankful its so new because it was completely quiet in there. The tech was hanging out in the waiting room, chatting with the receptionist, and we went in just a few minutes later. So I got in nice and early, which was a treat! I was ready to see what was going on in there.
Our tech didn’t know any history about us, which was actually kind of refreshing. I don’t remember the last time I’ve been asked if this was my first pregnancy or not. It was an innocent question, but I laughed out loud. Awkward. When he put his wand on my abdomen, he right away showed me the heartbeat. And WOW has the baby grown from one week to the next!! 😭 It was just incredible to see. My mom grabbed my hand and I told the tech how relieved I was. He seemed a bit surprised and asked if I’ve been having spotting or something. I told him I wasn’t, but I told him we’ve had a couple losses this year and are needing reassurance. He jumped on that information and said we’d go through the whole thing again together. He turned the screen all the way to me and slowly went from one side of my uterus to the other. He showed me the amniotic sac, and the heartbeat again. He told me he saw no signs of bleeding or anything out of the ordinary at all. He told me how I was measuring, how big the baby was, the heart rate, etc. Honestly, he probably told me more than he should’ve, but I appreciated it SO much. So, at that point, I was measuring 7w1d, which was one day ahead of where I should’ve been, according to my last ultrasound (though I’m sure some of that varies from tech to tech.) The baby’s heart rate was in the 140s, and its body was measuring just over 1 cm. I know. SO tiny. But, last week baby measured 0.5 cms, so no wonder I’m feeling so worn out and sick!! My body has been working overtime this last week, doubling my baby in size!!!! 😲 Amazing, right?? He got me some pictures and said “We’ll see you in again in a couple of months!” Lol! Ya, or much much sooner…
To give you a little side by side, this is the difference between 6 weeks and 7 weeks!!
The first picture, the baby is in between the little markings, just along the outer edge of the gestational sac. The second picture doesn’t need any explanation.
The day had started out a bit frustrating, but ended with a lot of reassurance for me. I’m SO thankful it wound up the way it did! I’ll have another scan early next week, and then an appointment with my OB to talk about both of them and see where my anxiety is. Hopefully she can give me some tips and recommendations on how to curb it. I’m already trying to do a few things for it, but thats a whole separate post.
Since that appointment, I’ve went ahead with my nausea medication, and thanks to that, am a TOTAL zombie almost exclusively. Coffee isn’t sitting very well at all, and my meds may as well be sleeping pills. Hopefully they’ll help me feel well enough soon so I can combat their drowsy effect with coffee!! If you see me out and about, wandering aimlessly, please take me home. I’m probably sleep walking. 😳 😴