16w1d - 23w6d to go

16 week appointment - DONE!

My appointment today was with nurse Diane again. She's so wonderful and upbeat, I always leave there feeling excited, even on days like today where I wake up not feeling so hot, and run into closed roads and overturned vehicles that make me 20 minutes late for my appointment (and, they still saw me on time - I waited literally three minutes in the lobby).

Baby's heartbeat was SO strong today! Even Diane remarked something like, "Wow, that's really good!" She didn't comment today on the exact heart rate but since she said it was strong, I'm not worried.

Only problem today was (again) the blood pressure...at first take it was 149/89. So they took it FOUR MORE TIMES. The last two were at the end of my appointment - Diane made me sit in a quiet room with a magazine and just "chill" just in case it was because I was worked up over the traffic and running late (which was true). After resting for about five minutes and just taking some deep breaths, it was down to a much closer to normal 133/79 (they took it once in each arm). Still a tad high, but much improved. I am going to step it up with the diet/exercise, though, just because I really want to avoid the preeclampsia (plus, high blood pressure is no good anyway!)

We also went over my lab results from the six vials of blood they took last time! Everything came out good EXCEPT...I have no immunity to varicella (chicken pox). I've never had it, but I had been exposed many, many times in childhood. She warned me to stay clear of anyone who MIGHT get chicken pox since it's dangerous in adulthood to begin with - even worse when you're pregnant. I imagine the baby will get the vaccine and so will I after he/she is born.

So....what's next? The next appointment is the "big ultrasound" - the 20 week anatomy examination and 3d view of the baby! I am so excited - I get to see my little baby's face in four weeks! I'll get to see his/her cute little chubby cheeks and button nose and all around adorableness! This would also be where, if we wanted, we could find out if the baby is a boy or a girl...but we're not finding out. Just getting to see cute little chubby cheekers is exciting enough for me!

Well, my 2pm appointment is early, so I'm out!