Whew! I have managed to put four more weeks under my belt since my last regularly scheduled OB appointment and I am starting to feel as though I can exhale a bit more as each day passes. I met with Dr. Barbara Wells for yesterday's appointment. Let me tell you - she was fabulous! I want her to deliver this baby! She was cheerful and warm and really seemed to genuinely care about me and the baby. She even gave me a hug at the end of the appointment - what doctor does that? I told her about my doppler experience and she volunteered that I could come in to the office at any time I needed doppler re-assurance. Anyway, she answered all of my questions and even told me they were good questions (I was thankful for that feedback, even if she secretly believes I am a neurotic freak). When it came time to do the doppler check, she enthusiastically pointed out that she could see my uterus starting to show! She asked me to sit up, but then to lay back down because every time I sat up, it disappeared. Since I couldn't see it, she directed my hand to where it was so I could feel it. When we started to listen for the heartbeat, she got this big smile on her face and said, "don't you love that?!" There was Murtle's beautiful heartbeat again - beating away between 120 - 145 bpm. She told me that variance like that was normal and as long as the beats were in the right range, all was well, thank goodness! I then had my blood drawn for the AFP screening (which is to test for neural tube defects, i.e., Spina Bifida) and then went merrily on my way. Otherwise, my blood pressure was good and I had gained one pound since my last visit - but I'm still minus one pound since getting pregnant. That's ok - hopefully it just means there will be less to lose after giving birth! I suppose it's to be expected that I still haven't gained much weight considering my nausea has still been persisting. At least food doesn't completely turn me off anymore, but it's still not overly appetizing. Hopefully this nausea will pass soon because I miss having an appetite and loving food.
Oh, and I must confess about a second home doppler experience...The evening before my appointment, my husband asked (and in a surprisingly non-joking manner) if we wanted to get the doppler out. My first response was to ask him if he were nuts considering our first experience, but since he seemed to be genuinely interested in hearing the baby's heartbeat (and his expressing baby initiative has been few and far between), I had to cave in! I kept reminding myself that chances were good we wouldn't be able to hear it, so don't freak out...and I have an appointment the next morning, anyway. Anyway, I put the headphones on him and I moved the probe around my whole stomach. It took a few minutes, but we were actually able to find a much faster heartbeat this time! What a beautiful sound! I asked him to count the beats based on a digitial clock, only to find that the heart rate seemed to be going at over 200 bpm! I tried to tell myself that we just miscounted somehow, but I couldn't help but worry that the baby was in distress. :) If it's not one thing, it's something else... Rationally, I knew that all was ok, but well, you know...
