To read the story of our precious Harlynn Renae, start here and follow the "next" links at the end of each post. Thank you for coming and sharing with us in this journey.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

First Appointment, First Report!

I had my first appointment this morning, and was pretty nervous. My ears are still plugged and I've still got a cough and congestion from my bout with the flu, but I put my best game face on for the appointment. I saw the nurse first, Shelly, and she was adorable. I loved her. Brent was in rare form this morning cracking one-liners, and entertaining both the nurse and me. The nurse answered most all my questions and made me feel completely at ease. After paperwork and family medical history, it was off to meet the doctor.

We went in to another room where a different nurse, Tiffany, took my blood pressure and asked some other questions. I've always had a really high pulse, and today was no exception. Sitting completely still, I rung in at 97 bpm. I have to be careful because exercising while pregnant, I'm not supposed to get my heart rate above 140 bpm. When Brent and I were going to the gym 3 times a week, I would get on the elliptical and it wouldn't be unusual for me to be at 180/185. Thankfully for the baby, I've been too ill to push myself. :o)

Dr. came in and introduced herself - I liked her right away. I loved the nurses, and the OB, so all in all, I was praising God I had come to the place I had! She said since I was 11 weeks, she would try to find the "heart tones" so we could hear them at this appointment.

I got situated on the exam bed and she brought the machine out. She apologized for her hands being cold, but let me tell you - they were warm compared to the gel!! She moved the microphone around slowly and patiently, but we couldn't hear any heartbeat. I was eyeing her the whole time, trying to read her face. She turned and said, "I'm going to go get the ultrasound machine." I had Brent come hold my hand.

I was somewhat scared at this point - what did it mean that the heartbeat couldn't be found? She came back right away and got me situated for the ultrasound. After more cold gel, she pointed to the screen and said, "that's the heart beating, right there. 177 beats per minute." I looked. I gasped. There was Ziggy!!

My uterus is tipped and my placenta is right in my front so she said, "That's why we couldn't hear the heart, because the big ol' placenta is in the way." Phew. Ziggy was break dancing like it was nobody's business. Even the Dr. commented, "You've got a little wiggle worm!" I started crying - I was so overwhelmed. This little baby is rocking out inside of me, and I can't feel a thing, but there it was and I was WATCHING it!

She also made an interesting discovery - I'm not 11 weeks, I'm only 10. So I'm not quite as far along as calculated. This pushes my due date back to May 10th. All 3.29 centimeters of Ziggy equals 10 weeks.

I could have laid there and watched Ziggy move around all day. It was incredible. I had to wrap up the appointment, though, and go get my mercury-free flu shot, my blood drawn, and schedule my next appointment. November 11th I go for appointment number 2!

It was such a great appointment, and such an answer to prayer today. I am just in amazement to see and witness God's handiwork firsthand. I'm floored - in total amazement - His creation is beyond exquisite!!

I have been on cloud 15 all day. Way beyond cloud 9! I'm just in amazement at the miracle that's taking place inside of me. And it left me wondering - which one of us did Ziggy get those groovy moves from?! :o)

4 comments:

  1. loved this message! :) i also LOVE having an ultrasound and the last appointment (16 wks) when they could hear the heartbeat right away, I told them to pretend they didn't hear it and to let us have an ultrasound. My doc laughed and said no. I always say the u.s. just makes the baby all that more "real" for the husband. :) Enjoy every minute of it, even though its my second pregnancy, i am loving every minute of it! :) Thanks for sharing and reminding me I need to blog more about mine! :) some day my little "hippi" will be reading this, as will your little ziggy! :)

    oh and the dance moves came from you, and you can tell brent that! :) ha!

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  2. Really cool Val. Amazing in every syllable. A-maz-ing.

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  3. Yay! No worries, 10-11 weeks is still early to hear the heartbeat on Dopplar so I'm glad they did an U/S to help put your mind at ease. You'll be going for the big U/S between 18-20 weeks and they can usually see if it's a boy or a girl by then!

    177 bpm heartrate is awesome! I'm betting it's a girl! *winks*

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  4. I am so happy that you are reveling in the marvelousness that is pregnancy... it is a truly amazing journey, every blessed minute of it, the good the bad and the ugly. :) Brent reminds me of how Charlie was when I was pregnant. You deserve the special treatment-you are doing important work. :) So Happy for you guys!

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