There's a Real Baby in There!

12-Week Ultrasound

We had our second appointment at OBGYN of Atlanta on September 8th.  This appointment lasted for three hours!  During this appointment, we had our second ultrasound, listened to the babies heartbeat, met with a Pregnancy Planner, had an examination by Dr. Sharon, and completed the First Trimester Nuchal Translucency (NT) Screening, which involved drawing blood. 

Being that the last time we saw our baby, it looked roughly like a peanut, it is really no surprise that my response to seeing it at our 12-week ultrasound was, "It looks like a real baby!".  The ultrasound technician laughed and said, "What did you think was in there?".  Our baby not only had a brain, spinal cord, heart, and other vital organs, it also had an adorable face, and arms, and legs, with tiny little fingers and toes.  The baby even put on a little show for us, wiggling, stretching, and responding to the pressure applied to my belly by the technician.  According to the ultrasound tech, our baby was about 6.7 centimeters long, that is just about three inches of pure perfection.  One thing I can say for certain after seeing that little cutie is that if it were up to me, I would have an ultrasound every day just so that I could watch every change and movement that our baby is going through.  Seeing our baby again and hearing his or her heart beat for the first time definitely helped to put a lot of my fears to rest, while making this whole thing seem a lot less like it was all in my imagination. 

After the ultrasound, we met with the Pregnancy Planner.  She thoroughly reviewed both of our medical histories and talked to us about our insurance coverage, birthing options, and risks associated with pregnancy and delivery.  We had to fill out and sign lots of paperwork during this part of the appointment, but overall, it was completely painless.

When our meeting with the Pregnancy Planner was finished we were escorted into an exam room.  Because OBGYN of Atlanta is a rotating practice, we will see a different doctor at each appointment so that by the time I deliver, we will know all eight of them.  At this appointment we met Dr. Sharon, who examined me while carrying on a conversation with Brad about fishing off the coast of Georgia.  Brad busied himself by checking emails on his Blackberry.  I found the whole situation hilarious!  I think Brad  found it to be awkwardly funny, but I guess we'll have a lot more of those awkwardly funny moments before this is all over with.

The last part of the appointment involved drawing blood, lots of blood!  I do NOT handle having blood drawn very well.  In fact, I don't handle needles very well.  I tried to prep Brad before hand, but I don't think he took me seriously.  Once we got started, I asked him to talk to me or tell me a story to take my mind off of what was going on.  The best he could do on the spot was to tell me the one about the priest, the rabbi, and the duck walking into a bar.  Needless to say, that didn't exactly do the trick.  Thankfully, the phlebotomist took over and did a great job of distracting me by talking about her own three-month old baby.  She did a wonderful job and it was over before I knew it!  Unfortunately, that did not keep me from feeling faint a few minutes later while we were trying to schedule our next appointment.

Several days after the appointment we received some really great news.  All of our first trimester screening results came back normal.  Needless to say, we were both very relieved!  It looks like we are moving into the second trimester with a healthy baby and a happy mommy!