Our first doctor's appointment FINALLY came! I was 10 weeks along and it was about a week before my 24th birthday. Brian took me to my first doctor's appointment and we weren't really sure what to expect. First thing after the nurse got all my vitals she asked if we wanted to go ahead and get our first ultrasound before we see the doctor. UMMM YEAH!!! We weren't expecting to get an ultrasound so that was such a great surprise! By this point in my pregnancy I was having literally no symptoms. I remember going to bed at about 8:30 every night and feeling somewhat sleepy but I was breezing through it. I really didn't "feel" pregnant. I wasn't showing, didn't have any morning sickness, and was overall doing pretty well. So, yes I knew there was a little being in there somewhere but nothing made it more real than seeing our little sea monkey on that screen. I couldn't believe it. A lot of times when you try to make sense of those sonogram pictures you start going cross eyed. But, when we saw her on the screen, it was plain as day. We were so speechless. The ultrasound technician said that everything looked good and the baby was measuring perfect. She gave us four of our most treasured pictures that we will ever have. The rest of the appointment was not as exciting. All I could think about was our little baby that I was carrying. They sent us on our way with a bag full of goodies that included a pregnancy journal which I'm so thankful that I filled out. We made phone calls to the grandmas to let them know their little grandbaby was cooking just fine. Brian headed to work with a picture in tow and I headed off to la la land. I think I was skipping out of that building!
So, we made it through the first 10 weeks. My doctor said that we are practically in the clear as far as the pregnancy being safe from a miscarriage. She told me that after the first trimester, there is little chance of miscarriage and after about 20 weeks we are doing even better. Needless to say, I breathed a little better once we cleared the first trimester. However, I don't think I've ever googled so much in my life. I wanted to do as much as I could to give our baby the smartest brain, the strongest body, and the cutest face! I found a class that was offered in our city for the "Bradley Method of Childbirth." Now, if you haven't heard of this method, it's basically a 12 week course which includes teaching you how to be healthy, a proper diet, stretches, exercises, relaxation techniques, and tells you what to expect in labor. We didn't know exactly what to expect but it was a little much for us. We did enjoy learning about development and how to keep healthy but it was a little over the top. It is a bit outdated and made me apprehensive about when I do go to the doctor or the hospital. The course made it seem like a lot of the stuff done in hospitals is unnecessary and possibly harmful to your labor. We were happy to find out the opposite when we toured the birthcare center. They were totally supportive of women and their labor plans. A lot of the things that I thought I was going to have to "fight" for, was already encouraged. Anyways, the class did teach us a lot of new things but just like with anything you have to make your own decisions with the knowledge you obtain. I did apply a lot of the class to my life. I ate all the things on our checklists and wrote ALL of it down! Yes that was kind of time consuming. I did my stretches every night so the baby would be in "ideal" positioning. We did our homework and read out of the books that we borrowed. We even did relaxation techniques where Brian talked me through a "practice contraction" while we tried not to burst out into giggles. I suppose this is where the thought comes in that a parent will do anything for their children. Ha! To be a fly on the wall in our house... I'm sure we looked quite hilarious to say the least. I really wanted to have a natural birth with no meds. I know, I know... CRAZY! Just about every time I told someone that, they immediately told me it's not worth it. I should just get the epidural and don't put myself through the hassle. Well, I was not against an epidural but I wanted to make the healthiest choice possible for me and our baby. I figured that I'd give it a shot and if the pain was too much, well at least I tried.
I did everything I could think of to be healthy. Aside from a few intense cravings of gummy bears, icees, and candy, I ate pretty healthy. I took my prenatal vitamins religiously. I carried a purple water bottle around (which Brian would teasingly ask, "You want your baaa baa??") filled with water ALL the time. We took walks every night and I didn't do any heavy lifting. I read the pregnancy bible and checked a website on a weekly basis. It became a game to read what the size of the baby was each week. The site we read off of compared the size with food. So in the beginning we were excitedly telling everyone that the baby was the size of a pea and later it was a blueberry, prune, plum, peach, etc., until we ended up with a melon! Wednesdays were my favorite days of the week because that was our day where we graduated to the next week. I would wake up and tell Brian, "Guess what.... We're X many weeks now!!" He's a good sport because for one, he put up with my madness and two, he really did get into it too. He is AMAZING. He had no clue about pregnancy, babies, or how to deal with a hormone struck wife, but he was right there by my side the entire time, with a big grin on his face. :D
No comments:
Post a Comment