12w1d - 27w6d to go

Today's appointment went well.

A couple of disappointing things from the appointment:

1. No ultrasound today! I was sure they were going to do one, and SO looking forward to it. But they didn't.

2. Found out that my doctor's office doesn't deliver at Winnie Palmer...where I had really hoped I would be delivering.

3. I had to have SIX VIALS OF BLOOD taken. I'm still a tad woozy. The nurse also said that the blood took a long time to come out, so it took about 15 minutes to get the six vials of blood.

4. My blood pressure was a little high. They took it twice just to be sure. It was 149/90 the first time, then an hour later it was 139/88. (The first time I was upset because Scott got lost and he kinda got snippy with me on the phone when I was trying to help him...so that probably contributed.) Either way, it's a tad high, so it's time to start working out more and eating better to get it to come down.

5. They lost my pap smear results from June, so I had to go through the unpleasant procedure of having it done again. (The nurse said I only had a pelvic exam with no pap, but I KNOW they did it for sure, 100% without a doubt.)

Good things this appointment:

1. They used the Doppler to hear the baby's heartbeat. 150 bpm! If the old wives tale about gender and heart rate is correct (low for boy, high for girl), we're definitely looking at a boy! (HR at 12 weeks is between 140 and 170...150 puts it at the lower end)

2. The nurse practitioner (Diane) is REALLY nice. If it weren't for how wonderful everyone in this group is, I would consider switching so that I could deliver at Winnie Palmer...but you can't beat getting excellent medical care.

3. I asked about natural childbirth, because Stefanie mentioned that some doctors won't work with you if you don't have get pain medication. Diane said they actually encourage it and that she had five babies without medication. So that was really a checkmark in the positive column for me.

4. She told me to stop watching baby shows (more a plus for Scott than me! haha) and that I don't need to take the extra folic acid I have been...there's enough in my prenatal. Yay for taking one less pill every night!

5. They deliver at Winter Park Hospital, which is 5 minutes from work (yay waiting til I go into labor to stop working!) and has facilities that are comparable to Winnie Palmer...so it's not such a let down (Scott will just have to sleep on a couch instead of a murphy bed...hehe)

6. They gave me a free baby calendar, which is nice because I kinda messed up the one I bought back in September. :)

7. Diane directed me to her email address and said I can send her any questions by email and she gets back to you really quickly. (Apparently Dr. Wilson and Dr. Cascio aren't real good about email follow up, but she promised that she is).

Aside from all these pros/cons for today, I got a lot of information about tests and screenings. I have the NT scan scheduled for November 26 - that's definitely another ultrasound, plus it will be the reassurance that I need that the baby is healthy and doesn't have down's syndrome or trisomy 18 (both extremely rare for babies of moms my age, but still worth testing for in my opinion...especially since UHC picks up the bill!) So, November 26, we will see a baby again!

The next appointment with my regular doctor will be on December 14...not sure what that one will entail (hopefully an ultrasound!) other than more screening tests (cystic fibrosis, AFP, blood type for RH status, and so on). Then at about 20 weeks, we'll have the level 2 ultrasound, where I'll have to not look the whole time so I don't see what gender the baby is!

So, that's the eager update for this week! I'm really, really psyched about the NT scan...what a great post-Thanksgiving appointment!