Dr appts Week 7, Week 12 and Week 16!

I plan to share the interesting information from our doctor's visits, and we've already had quite a few, so here's a summary of those first few weeks at the doctor's!

WEEK 7
Our first visit.  A new doctor, because my old doctor was near my work, which is 35 miles away and I plan to deliver at the nearby hospital, so I needed a nearby doctor.  This place is all women doctors, nurses, PAs, etc (not that I really care either way) and, of course, they are immediately taken with Ryan.  His effect on the ladies never ceases to amaze me!  I guess it is odd (in my neighborhood?) to have a very excited and attentive (and scientifically educated?) dad at the appointment.

Basically a bunch of paperwork, some peeing in some cups and a whole lot of vials of blood are collected.  Then we finally got to see Baby Wynne for the first time!  A blurry little ultrasound, but it was so cute!  With it's little heart beating!  The sonogram doesn't do it justice (see the left sidebar and our very first post). 

Ryan and I are so excited and the conversation goes something like this (or at least this is how I remember it):
Ultrasound Tech: "That's your baby.  That flutter is the heart beat."
Ryan: "Oh, look, it is so cute.  Are those the armbuds? Are those bumps on the side the eyes? Is that the tail?"
Jen: "It looks like a chicken!"
Ultrasound Tech: [wide eyes; puzzled look]
(So sorry that, as a biology grad student TA, I have cut open a developing chicken egg and viewed a 3 day old chicken embryo!)

WEEK 7, Part 2: Nursing visit
Apparently it is standard to have a visit with just the nurse as a follow-up a few days/weeks after the initial appointment to go over blood work results and learn that drinking alcohol is bad for a developing baby.  Yet again, I think we shock the staff at the office.

(Again, all conversations are only as I remember them!)
Nurse: "Do you know your blood type?"
Jen: "AB+"
Nurse: [surprised tone] "umm, yes, you're right.  You are AB+.  Good job!"
Jen: [puzzled look]

a few minutes later ...

Nurse: "The blood work all looks good except for when it comes to german measles."
Ryan: "Oh, low antibody titers?  Can she get a booster at some point?"
Nurse: [shocked look]

After a long and tedious meeting, I get sent off for some more blood work and ultrasounds to check for genetic disorders and other not-so-good baby things.

MEASUREMENTS:
Mommy Weight Gain: 0 lbs



WEEK 12:
A very busy day.  Two doctors visits.  One to my normal doctor and one to a special place that does super good ultrasounds to check for any issues.

The morning appointment to the normal doctor goes well.  Oh, except that the PA can't get a heartbeat using the little doppler thing.  Which is annoying (and sort of painful), but also awesome, because we get to do another ultrasound!  Here are some photos from that:

Again, the photos don't do it justice, but Baby Wynne was very excited to be seen!  There was dancing and a big wave at Daddy!  (It's a side view and the baby's head is to the left, obviously!)

MEASUREMENTS:
Mommy Weight Gain: 0 lbs
Baby's Heart Beat: 150 bpm


The afternoon appointment was also fun!  Our ultrasound tech was super nice (and crazy ... glad to know her life story!)  but let us look at Baby Wynne for a long time!  And then she actually had to come back and take more pictures, so we got yet another chance to watch Baby Wynne!!  Yay! 

Like I said, she was awesome and appreciated our nerdy scienceness.  We talked about the bones being ossified and what all the structures were that we were looking at and what exactly was going on. 
I also learned 2 interesting things about this specific pregnancy:
(1) The egg came from my right ovary -- I know most mom's probably wouldn't care about this, but I thought it was cool that she could see the corpus luteum still in my ovary. 
(2) The placenta is attached to the front of my uterus. -- This is one reason why finding the heartbeat is difficult with the little doppler thing.  This also makes ultrasounds interesting, because the go all around my belly.  Really high or really low is the only good way to get a good shot! (My bit of belly chub also doesn't help the situation)

Here are the awesome pictures:

Face
(Baby Wynne is now facing sideways, with the top of the head to the right)

Another side shot.  Definitely dancing again!



Here Baby Wynne is waving at you!  See the hand up near the top?


We also got the results of the first few tests for abnormalities and all is well!




WEEK 16
A pretty uneventful visit.  Ryan had to work, so I went alone.

Got back some more blood work we had done (serious number of tests for Baby Wynne!) and, again, all markers for abnormalities are negative, so it looks like Baby Wynne is doing great!

The doctor finally managed to get the heartbeat using the doppler thing.  It took a good 15 minutes and a lot of adjusting and a bunch of listening to my heartbeat (damn you, anterior placenta!), but she found it!  I was actually happy she found it and I didn't have to have an ultrasound because Ryan would have been so sad to have missed the chance to see Baby Wynne again!

MEASUREMENTS:
Mommy's Weight Gain: +0.5lbs
Baby's Heart Rate: 150 bpm






And that sums up all the first doctor appointments!