First doctor appointment--Check.
First failed attempt to listen to heart--Check.
First ultrasound--Check.
First photos of baby who is not even an inch long--Check.

So the first appointment was on Thursday. The whole thing took forever--about 3 hours. First I sat in the waiting room for about 20 minutes. Then I was weighed (eesh!), and then I spoke to the nurse for awhile. Did an extensive family medical background. "No, no cystic fibrosis in the family. Yes, husband has diabetes on his side. No, no twins." Again, I was asked about 5 times if I was taking prenatal vitamins (I am).

Then the doc came in. She seemed impressed by the speediness that I made it back in (I saw her in July for an annual and told her yes, we were thinking about trying for a baby). Then we did the basic appointment. The LMP would have put me at ten weeks, though I thought that was impossible. She put it somewhere around 8-9 weeks. Then we tried to listen to the heartbeat. She warned me ahead of time that it was early and we might not hear anything. I imagine there are women out there who would freak out if they didn't hear something. Thankfully, I'm not one of them, as the only heartbeat we heard was mine (though that was pretty cool too).

Then I made monthly appointments for the next 4 months. Then I scheduled an ultrasound so we could figure out just how old this baby really was. They had an opening for Friday morning, so I snatched it up. Then I went for bloodwork. I'm pretty sure they took about a pint. Oh yeah, and I rounded out the trip by peeing in a cup.

The Friday morning ultrasound was scheduled for 9:30 and came with very specific instructions. Drink 32 ounces of water by 8:30 and come in with a full bladder. Now, that's just a cruel thing to do to a pregnant lady who already has to pee all the time. I managed to get all the water down without problem, but at 8:30 I had to pee. I told myself if I went now, my bladder would surely be full again in an hour no problem. So I went. But by 9, as we ate McDonald's breakfast before the appointment, I really had to go again. Like, if I sneezed I would have wet myself. That's how bad. So I went. But I cut myself off partway through. So I still felt like I had to pee, but I was pretty sure I wouldn't explode if I hit a bump in the road.

We got into the room and it was like every baby movie I'd ever seen. Goop on the belly. Big black-and-white screen. And then there was baby and baby heartbeat. The lady determined the baby to be about 6 weeks, just old enough to see a squiggle on the screen with a bright white dot in the middle--the beating heart. She estimated Baby Clay to be about 6 millimeters, just slightly under 1 inch. And then she handed us a couple photos, though it may be a little soon to start putting them up on the wall.

First Dr. Appt

My first doctor appointment is tomorrow. Hopefully it will provide some answers, like:

Why does my sternum hurt?
Can I dye my hair?
What about bleaching my teeth? because...
I've been drinking a lot of green tea. Is that ok?
Is eating nothing but mac and cheese and corn muffins ok?

And perhaps most important...when is this baby due?

Considering the H1N1 vaccine

I read this on NPR and thought it made a lot of sense (even though I've just begun holding my breath): "The pressures on pregnant women to basically take a deep breath and hold it for nine months are enormous in our culture."

This quotation was in reference to a story about whether or not pregnant women should get the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine. Basically, the doctor was saying that pregnant women are bombarded by what they can and can't do/take/eat/drink/etc. while pregnant. Now they must also decide whether or not to get the H1N1 vaccine, knowing that it was never tested on pregnant women (ethical reasons and all). That, and it's an incredibly new vaccine that was pushed out the door as fast as possible. What's the other choice? Risking the flu and a fever that's dangerous for the baby. And with so many people sick in my office, it seems more like a certainty than a risk. Eesh. I think I'll default to my doc for the answer to this one. I have my first appointment lined up for next Thursday. I think we'll be figuring out a due date. Yay!

New Baby = New Blog

Okay, I can do this. I can start yet another blog and swear I'm going to keep up with it. But this time I think I have good enough reasons to keep it going. That, and I actually have something to write about now considering I'm "with child." Ha. That feels a little ridiculous to write. I'm not quite sure it's totally hit me yet. I have, after all, only confirmed it a week ago. And only 3 other people know about it (okay, 4 if you're counting the saleslady at Home Depot who asked what we were painting the other day when we picked out a few samples).

Right now I'm sitting at home feeling the first pains of pregnancy. I've got a nasty cold and can't take anything for it. One website suggested a hot shower, fluids, soup, more sleep. That's great and all, but I can't shower at work (or sleep for that matter). I had some tea and I'm considering warming up some chicken broth. But all that can only do so much when what you really want is a shot of NyQuil. I'm going to settle for sticking my head over a bowl of steamy water.