Our First Appointment

Everything went perfectly at our appointment today.  I scheduled the appointment with the Physician's Assistant since the doc was booked for longer than I wanted to wait :).  We both absolutely loved the PA!  She was incredibly thorough and answered any specific questions we had.  We found out later in the appointment that she's actual pregnant with her 3rd child right now too and only a few weeks ahead of us! We'll see the doctor for all of our future appointments, but we'll miss the PA, she was amazing!

I really appreciated the practice's use of technology!  I can't stand it when businesses do not keep up with the times and use the resources that are readily available to them to make things efficient! They scanned our records in and handed the hard copies back because they are completely paperless.  We were then given a walkthrough of our personal thumb drive.  It already had several folders that were very well organized and included things like FAQs, a timeline of major milestones (dr. appointments), emergency phone numbers, medications that are/aren't allowed, etc. Then we were told to bring it back with us to every appointment and our most current information (including ultrasound pictures) would be loaded at each visit!  She said it was no big deal if we forgot it, broke it, lost it, etc. because they could easily give us a new one!  Another added benefit is if I show up to the hospital with some kind of emergency or to deliver the baby, I can take the thumb drive and they will have all my records.  The hospital should hypothetically have them on file and ready to go, but paperwork has been known to get lost!  

Today was another milestone because we were able to HEAR the heartbeat for the very first time.  We could see the flutter before, but hearing it was absolutely amazing.  I'm not sure what was more amazing for me though - hearing the heartbeat or witnessing Doug's reaction!  It somehow seemed to bring a new level of reality to it all for him. His whole demeanor changed and he became a glowing expectant father!  By now I'm sure he's converted back to being "too cool" to glow, but for awhile there, in that doctor's office, I saw him glow!

I only posted one ultrasound picture on this blog, mostly because I'm really exhausted.  The rest are on facebook if you're interested.  I emailed them to my dad earlier today and he was very UNDERwhelmed, so I have a feeling these early pictures may not hold the same meaning for everyone else that they do for us!  The PA said our next ultrasound (in about 4-5 weeks) will really impress us.  The baby will be moving all over the place and really start looking like a baby.  Maybe then we can impress Grandpa with the pictures!

We asked about 3d/4d ultrasounds, and it turns out they are in the midst of perfecting their 3d/4d technique. The PA said by the time we're ready to see the 3d/4d images they should have it down and will be excited to play around with that technology!  So, it looks like we won't need to pay for the 3d/4d out of pocket after all! Granted if we do choose to go to a facility that specializes in 3d/4d, we can bring friends and family because they show it on a giant screen.  We would also get a DVD.  The part that everyone is already missing out on (in my opinion) is the movement.  The pictures mean more when you see the movement or even hear the heartbeat! We have plenty of time to weigh the pros and cons of this though!

I loved everything about the practice except for ONE thing. They won't do a gender determination until the anatomy scan at 20 weeks.  I'm supposed to wait until NOVEMBER?  I'm going to go insane.  I could pay out of pocket and find out at 16 weeks, but that's probably a waste of money.  I'm trying to convince myself it is anyway.  Everything I want to start planning now is all gender related - nursery colors, bedding, the baby's name, nursery theme, etc.  That's all the fun stuff! Every time I look into other things I get REALLY overwhelmed.  Last week I decided to research diaper bags.  That seemed like a simple enough task. I wanted to read and research until I knew which diaper bag was truly efficient, durable, and still looked hip to carry!  I started to look and it didn't take 5 minutes for me to realize I was in over my head - and this is only diaper bags. This week I took a stab at the different types of cribs taking into account style, safety, and efficiency.  Oh my goodness... I'm beyond overwhelmed!  So, I want to know the gender, so I can do the fun things and get all of that out of the way! Then I can worry about everything else :)

Well we spoke with the PA about our due date, and it changed a few times throughout the conversation, but I'm pretty sure we settled on March 23rd.  Those of you who know us well know that 23 is our lucky number - so, although it's unlikely our baby will actually be born on the 23rd, it's still fun to know the due date is the 23rd.... it's okay, I'm well aware that I'm a nerd! :)

As far as symptoms go, I don't really have any yet except maybe exhaustion. I always heard about morning sickness and cravings and sure maybe a little exhaustion, but I really underestimated the exhaustion part!  I'll be excited to make it to the 2nd trimester when my energy level is supposed to go back up!

Oops I almost forgot, here are the stats from today:
CRL: 1.27cm (12.7mm)
Heartrate: 154 bpm

Okay, it's way past my bedtime, and what should have been a short post has become quite long!  Goodnight!