18 weeks

We had another routine doctor's appointment this afternoon. Everything looks great; the baby's heartbeat, my cervix, my weight (I actually LOST a pound from my 16 week appointment - yee haw).
We got to spend a few minutes with the doctor asking some questions that I had been thinking up. I won't bore you with the details but I will say that at the end of the Q & A period, Brian was still a decided NON-fan of our doctor's. He felt that her answers were a bit melodramatic and biased. My impression was different because I expected her answers to reflect her medical training and her years of experience. So while her answers weren't always what I wanted to hear, I did feel that were her honest professional opinion. Since we have decided to go the OB route instead of the mid-wife route, I want to know what the doctor recommends.
Probably the most disheartening news for Brian and me was that there may be a possibility that we will not be able to travel for Christmas this year. The doctor said she would make her recommendation once we reached 24 weeks so we won't know one way or the other for another 6 weeks. Her main concern is that I would go into pre-term labor and would be stuck in another city, unable to fly until the baby is born and then he is cleared to fly. This could mean being away from home for up to 3 1/2 months. Again, we won't know definitively what the doctor suggests until 24 weeks so we aren't getting bent out of shape about our holiday plans just yet. I am sure everything will be fine and we will avoid a cactus Christmas.
Now, let's all remember that I lost a pound!

High Tech Ultrasound...Round Two!

Tuesday of this week (9/18) we had a follow up appointment at the high-tech ultrasound center. Elisabeth had been there once before…the time when “nothing cool was supposed to happen…but did”. So, this was old hat for her, but it was my first go-round with the hi-def version. The nurse led us back to the monitoring room and went straight to work jellying up E’s belly. They had a flat-panel TV mounted on the wall in front of us, such that both E and I could see what the technician was seeing on the ultrasound monitor. As she moved the wand back and forth she talked us through what she was looking for. We were thoroughly amazed as she pointed everything out, checking things off her "ultrasound treasure hunt list" as she identified important parts of his development in the various little blobs that showed up on the screen. A healthy heart, kidneys, developing cerebellum, fingers, toes…“come on”, I thought…“where is it?”…and then, BAM…his “in-utero-man-business” showed up to the party. She promptly labeled it with the word “boy” (see picture below) which gave us the final thumbs up we needed to go crazy buying clothes and painting the nursery!

The technician said that she has been doing this for seven years and typically does about ten exams per day. So, the way I figure it, multiply that by five working days in a week, less holidays and two weeks paid vacation in any given year, and you have about 16,800 ultrasounds that this woman has seen. Now, while I’ve not experienced such voluminous ultrasound review in my lifetime, I HAVE seen the look of a thoroughly impressed person before, and she freely wore that expression with no indecision whatsoever...and rightfully so (again, see picture below)!

Both the nurse/technician and the doctor (who made a three minute guest appearance to confirm the tech’s work) indicated that they were happy with all that they saw. I’m fairly certain that they were both probably rather well accustomed to the notion by now…but I still can’t get over the fact that there is a little person growing inside Elisabeth…a little person that is half me and half her…incredible! So, needless to say, I was pretty well flabbergasted throughout the entire process and felt the need to get a bit teary eyed from time to time. I was sitting in a chair next to E, as we held hands throughout the session. I soon found myself doing the ultrasound equivalent of the “wave” at a sporting event though, as it was tough to stay in my seat…constantly standing up in order to position myself nearer the monitor to make sure that I caught every last detail!

The 3-D pictures blew our minds once again, as now you can actually make out the features of his face (see below). Ears, nose, mouth, and eyes…all of which are positioned nicely on a melon that, proportionately speaking, rivals the size of my at-birth cranium (as I popped out looking like a moon man). In the second picture he’s assumed the aptly-named “fetal position” and you can see his whole body. From the looks of it, this leads me to believe that he’s going to be a professional cannon-baller, as in the picture he is demonstrating flawless form! (Mom, how reminiscent is this picture of the “back of the blue van” pose I struck when I didn’t make the traveling basketball team in middle school…minus the tears, right?!)
Once again, in addition to the still frames, were able to get a DVD of the entire session. During quite a bit of it it’s difficult to make out exactly what you’re looking at…but I will carve out a few clips of the more quality footage, as there are definitely some cool shots. There are some great motion sequences where you can see him moving his arms and legs around (in one shot he’s kicking back with his hands behind his head…Andrew, “I call this one 'Relax'”). Very cool stuff!

Elisabeth says she’s started to feel him moving around inside her…I can’t wait until I can feel him moving around from outside her belly. We have a real kid on the way…and we’re going to be real parents…BP is going to be someone’s dad…wow!

So a doctor it is!

We had our appointment last Thursday with the midwife/ob practice in Phoenix. We should have guessed it wouldn't be our cup of tea just from the address. The practice is located in a rather seedy area of Phoenix that is about an hour drive from our house. This practice came recommended by another midwife I had spoken with so we figured it was our best option since there are no midwives practicing in Scottsdale.
Thursday morning we trekked down to this office. Brian's first thought when we pulled in was that someone would steal our cars. This is just in the parking lot so I was still trying to be optimistic! Upon entering the waiting room area we both realized that this was NOT where we would be coming for pre-natal treatment. It looked like a Medicaid office! Brian and I were the only natural born citizens of the USA, if you get my drift. The waiting rooms chairs were stained and the carpet was frayed and coming up in areas. It was not winning any sanitation awards.
We sat for a few minutes quietly debating whether to stay and meet with the midwife or to run screaming from the building and back to Scottsdale as fast as our (hopefully not missing any tires) cars would take us. We finally decided that there was no way we would ever go with this practice so it would be a waste of our time as well as the midwife's. Brian let the receptionist know that we had an emergency and needed to cancel and we hightailed it out of there.
I must admit that I felt pretty snobby leaving the practice without even meeting with the midwife. Especially considering how much I would have preferred working with midwives over an OB. However, as I retold the story to Valerie later, she made me feel much better in pointing out that you have certain expectations for offices where you are to receive medical care and stained chairs and ripped carpet doesn't speak well to the level of care they provide.
Since there are no midwives practicing in Scottsdale, Brian and I made the decision to stick with our current OB. She may not be warm and fuzzy but she is a good doctor who provides a high level of care and a nice waiting room!

A boring yet good appointment

We had another doctor's appointment on Tuesday which turned out to be rather uneventful. Instead of an ultrasound, I got an exam. Brian had never seen such a thing so he was pretty interested! It wasn't a paps mere type exam but was an actual pregnancy exam which was my first. The doctor had me lay back on the table and put the soles of my feet together so that my knees splayed apart. Then she measured from the top of my pubic bone to just above the round in my belly (my uterus) with a measuring tape and said that everything measures right where it should for 16 weeks. It is strange to look at my belly while laying in that position because everything kind of goes to the right. The doctor said that is because my bowels are on the left so the baby moves to the right. Interesting, eh? She did a brief internal exam and said my cervix is hard as a rock, which I guess is a good thing. She listened to his heartbeat and said he sounds beautiful! We have another hi-tech ultra sound scheduled for next week to measure the length of my cervix. I would imagine at this appointment we will really be able to see his "business" so that will be the confirmation we need to paint the nursery!
The only bad news at yesterday's appointment was that I gained 7 pounds in 3 weeks! It was rather unexpected for me since I have been eating well and exercising a lot. But my belly has grown quite a bit in the last 3 weeks so I am trying not to be too hard on myself. The total weight gain so far has been 16 lbs so basically a pound a week. At this rate I will end up gaining 40 lbs so I am hoping that it slows down at some point...wishful thinking I know!
We have an appointment Thursday morning with a mid wife practice in Phoenix. We want to explore the options to see if we are more comfortable with a mid wife instead of a doctor. I will keep you updated!