3rd/4th PNA update

Work has been hectic recently and it has prevented me from posting about yesterday's appointment, till now. (However, I have been praying to God to help me find a resolution to this hectic work issue and, what do ya know, the Lord has answered! I received some reprieve today, and I'm praying the issue will be resolved by the end of the week! God is really good!)

As for the appointment, it went great! It's so amazing and wonderful to have such positive appointments. Such a beautiful change from those awful appointments I had been having all through the end of last year. DH and I went in and met with my OBGYN, Dr. M, and we were able to discuss a ton of questions that I had written down (since I obviously seem to forget them on the spur of the moment). I got generally good responses to my questions, and Dr. M even commended me on my questions and dedication to exercise. He said he does not often have a pregnant patient who exercises (he approximated that 1 in 10 of his patients exercise), so that was nice to hear.

He also measured my uterus, by taking out a tape measure and measuring from my pubic bone to where he felt the top of my uterus was externally, and said it measured 15.5 CM which he said is just right for how far along I am in pregnancy (15.5 weeks). He also noted that my weight gain was appropriate too - 8lbs total so far (though, I'm always a little concerned about that one).

Then we got down to business. He pulled out the doppler and we looked for baby's heartbeat. He found it much quicker than it took NP Wonderful at the last, last appointment, so that was reassuring. He estimated that baby's average heartbeat was 140BPM. He said anything above 120 is healthy! (Hmmm, according to that old wives tale, anything above 140 would tend to indicate girl and anything under 140 would tend to indicate a boy...guess this baby is not giving away any hints as to what he or she is for now.) He also pointed out how strong and consistent the heartbeat was, which he said was good and indicated a healthy heart. He said if the baby had complications, the heartbeat would not have been as loud or consistent.

It was also cool to hear how the baby would move about while we listened to the heartbeat. The doctor would comment on it and note that he had to switch the doppler's position a bit to "chase" him. Of course, at 15 and half weeks, I still didn't feel any of these movements. Doc said not to worry, that usually, women in their first pregnancy dont feel or recognize baby's movements until 19-22 weeks. He also said baby wont be consistently kicking (which would mean I would need to do daily kick counts) till week 27 or 28.

Over all, Dr. M said we were doing well and applauded me for the great work. I said, it's not me, it's the baby doing well! (And God, of course!). I go back to see him in one month, on July 14. And of course, we have our BIG u/s on July 7 with the peri (or is it neo?) -natologist!!! Sooooo very exciting and a little scary (we'll be checking for birth defects too)!

Quick note on the symptom front - this morning was the first time in a long time I had nausea. I hadn't eaten breakfast before heading into work (b/c food was sounding nasty at the moment, but dont worry i wasn't planning to starve, I packed a breakfast to eat at the office) and during the drive in, I felt the urge to gag and felt very queasy. I quickly got out some dried fruit I had packed as a snack but that was not helping. I got into work and my pregnant co-worker and secretary (mother of 2) noted my pale queasy state and suggested I eat crackers. Luckily I had a stash at work, so I munched on that, and ALL better! =)

Next up, planning my gender reveal party!