Showing posts with label Dr. Appointments. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dr. Appointments. Show all posts

Monday, January 3, 2011

The Violet Report

In case you can't make out her face:
With just over 30 days left until my due date, I'm posting a Violet Report. I just got home from visiting the doctor, and I feel so blessed every time I visit and get nothing but good news & "everything looks good's".

Here are some stats:
  • Violet is currently head down {although that can still change}
  • So far, no dropping, no dilating, no effacing - which is all just fine
  • My BP is okay, but slightly higher than average - no worries there yet {and I did have a crazy day, so that can contribute}
  • Violet's heartbeat is 130, perfect
  • In another 4 days I can go into labor and they won't try and stop me!
  • I've only gained one pound since last month, which is especially great since they technically diagnosed me with gestational diabetes - even though I really don't believe I have it because my glucose numbers have been normal despite not changing my diet dramatically {I have to stick myself 4 times a day to test}, I haven't needed any meds like insulin, and the perinatologist I saw told me during an ultrasound, "If it wasn't for you failing the glucose test I'd never believe you have gestational diabetes." I really believe, if anything, I'm barely "borderline" gd. But anyway, one pound, and after the holidays no less - yay!
Please keep myself & Violet in your prayers if you think of us! Now that I go to the doctor every week until she arrives, I'll keep everyone posted on how we're doing.

{Don't miss the previous post - a video of Eisley's 2010!}

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

{TODAY}

9am - Justin hears Eisley is awake, goes to get her in her crib and finds that she has thrown up all over herself. Takes temperature, which is normal. Hmm...

10am - Justin has left for work, I settle Eisley in her highchair with some Cheerios and formula for breakfast. Sees that a new tooth is making headway through her gums.

10.30am - Eisley is now playing on the floor, starts to heave and shake. Proceeds to throw up entire breakfast, looks miserable.

10.45 - After Googling, I decide to call the doctor, leave a message with physician's assistant. Not sure whether or not to take her in... but she's acting fine now, playing happily on the floor.

11am - PA calls back, ask questions, says she'll talk to the doctor and get back to me. Eisley has tiny clay like diaper mess and is straining. It's obvious she's constipated. Great. Puking, teething, and constipated. What else can go wrong, eh?

12pm - Eisley takes a bottle and goes down for a nap. I'm hoping she's over whatever this is and is fine now.

12.15pm - Check on Eisley, so far so good.


12.45pm - Check on Eisley, so far so good.


1pm - Check on Eisley, so far so good.


1.30pm - Check on Eisley, so far so good.


2pm - Doctor finally calls, I miss call, leaves message. Eisley seems fine so I let it go...


3pm - Eisley is awake, can't tell if she's thrown up or spilled some of her bottle. Change her, still constipated. She seems happy so I get her ready to go run errands.

3.20pm - Check mail. Find letter that says Justin's ex-employer is appealing unemployment decision for the THIRD TIME, despite the fact that they've already lost repeatedly and don't even owe any money if they lose so this is all in vain. My good mood is evaporated in a split second.

4pm - Call Mom from Michael's where I'm picking out pretty papers for my crafts to bitch about Justin's ex-boss and the audacity of it all. Eisley begins screaming and fussing.

7pm - On my way home from Walmart, give Eisley toddler cookies to keep her happy. Justin calls, is on his way home.

7.10pm - Eisley is home, playing on the floor. Starts heaving. Throws up.

7.15pm - Call Justin, tell him to meet me at the local Urgent Care center.

7.30pm - Urgent care lady directs us to another urgent care up the street because they're full for the evening.

7.40pm - Arrive at Urgent Care, wait 10 minutes to be received, wait another 15 minutes for good looking but ill-humored male nurse to call us back.

8pm - Doctor comes in, seems bored and not too worried because she isn't really dehydrated too bad - yet, thinks its a 24 hour bug. Asks questions. Eisley smiles at him.

8.15pm - Ill-humored male nurse comes in to give Eisley a shot of Zofran. Despite my efforts to distract, it is quite the upsetting event, being stuck in the hip with a needle. Ill-humored Male Nurse takes his sweet time pushing in the 2mm of Zofran while Eisley gasps for air between screams.

8.35pm - Doctor finally comes back to give instructions on what to do if this or that.

8.40pm - Justin takes Eisley home. I take longer, scenic route. Get stopped at train. Wonderful.

9pm - Arrive home to find a screaming Eisley, still constipated. Justin has given her applejuice, which she throws up 15 mins later.

9.15pm - Try to put Eisley down for the night. She will not have it. Justin reheats marinated grilled pork leftovers and pasta we had {thank goodness} and Eisley plays happily on floor.

9.30pm - I blog.


This has been our day. Wish us luck for tomorrow...

{UPDATE}

9.53pm - Eisley strains to poop. Justin cuddles with her. She' pouts and cries so pathetically that Justin tears up.

11.17pm - Checks email & re-reads this post between making embellished notebooks for Saturday. Sees I misspelled bored as "board". I'm embarrassed. This is one of my spelling pet peeves and yet here I've gone and done it myself... I'm anal {my mother is an editor, after all} could not let that go so here I am editing *again*. Eisley and Justin are sleeping sound in their respective beds. I'm planning on stay up to craft until the wee hours of the morning. Hopefully Eisley has a better day tomorrow. ;-)

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

{ My Sickos }

Justin got sick last night, kept us up half the night with his coughing, and complained of achiness, fever, and chills. Then Eisley got a fever in the night. We controlled it with some baby Tylenol, but this morning when she woke it was high again - 102.6 under the arm.

So I called the doctor, who wanted to see her. Then I called Justin, I was afraid they had the flu (thanks to my internet research) and wanted him to come to the doctor with us to help diagnose Eisley and to see if he did indeed have the flu.

"I don't want to go to the doctor, honey!" Justin said.

"But I think you should! I think you have the flu and since you and Eisley probably have the same thing, it might help diagnose her." I argued. It took a couple more nagging calls and texts to get him to agree. He asked his boss to leave work and met me at the doctor's office.

First, Eisley was seen - not by our usual doctor but a partner of hers, and we've always liked him. Since Eisley was still eating and peeing well he wasn't too concerned after looking her over. He said his guess was some virus that was giving her a fever and fatigue.

"So you don't think it's the flu?" I asked.

"No, she doesn't seem sick enough to have the flu." And he offered to give us antibiotics in case of an ear infection but gave his opinion that it was probably just a little virus.

Next he agreed to look at Justin, who was still coughing up a storm. Again, I said I was worried he had the flu...

"Oh he doesn't have the flu. He'd be looking a lot worse if he had the flu." The doctor said.

Still, I wasn't convinced. See, I've always said, "Justin has the immune system of a god!" Because the guy never gets sick. And when he does, it hits everyone around him ten times worse.

After a quick look over Justin, the doc asked what the initial symptoms were. I told him that last night Justin complained about being sensitive to the touch. That did make the doctor agree to do a flu swab, and I'm so glad he agreed to because....

Justin tested positive for influenza A. Great.

"I knew it!" I said.

So, obviously, next he wanted to test Eisley.

Eisley tested positive for influenza A.

Then the doctor looked at me and asked how I was feeling.

"Fine, so far. But now I'm nervous..." I said. "I've never had the flu before and I don't want it."

And so now Justin and I are both on Tamiflu (at $5 a pill - sheesh!). For Justin, to help shorten the life of his influenza and make the symptoms less severe. For me, to help prevent it altogether or at least make it not hit me hard if I do already have it.

Unfortunately, Eisley is too small to take anything for it other than your everyday pain killers to lower her fever. We're going to have to watch her very closely to make sure she doesn't develop pneumonia, which can be very dangerous. Prayers are requested.

Thankfully, the doctor was impressed with how well the two of them are handling the flu and thinks Eisley should get over it just fine. I hope so.

As I write this Justin is in bed upstairs. Eisley is asleep in her pack 'n' play nearby me and I'm monitoring her closely. I'm starting to feel a bit achy, but who knows.

I've never had the flu before, but here my 6 month old and my husband now have it. Yay.

And we thought the cold we all had last week were un-fun.

Oh, and can I just take a quick second to boast about how awesome we females are for our killer intuitions?

Monday, February 9, 2009

{ Eisley at 6 Months! }

Eisley is 6 months old now! These means we can start her on solids, according to her Dr. Heble. So far she's had bananas and carrots, and loved them both. She eats like a pro. The doctor said she looks great, and growth is right on track, she still hovers around the 25th percentile in all areas.

It's really hard to believe she's already halfway to her first year. I didn't feel like she's changed much, until a couple days ago when I looked at her newborn pictures. I was shocked to see how far she has come.
Here are her 6 month stats:

Height: 26 inches
Weight: 13 lbs 14 oz
Hair: about 3 inches long on top and just coming in on the sides and back
New Tricks: sitting in a shopping cart like a big girl, holding herself up on "all fours" when put on her tummy, pulled herself to a standing position a couple times, sits up without support 50% of the time, and screeches like an owl with her recently discovered loud voice
Favorite Activity: peek-a-boo
Favorite Food: banana baby food, as of last night, which gets gobbled up quite quickly. Her diapers are now more colorful...
Recently Mastered Skill: getting pacifier from resting state on surface to her mouth in the correct sucking position without any help from mom or dad
Most Heard Statement From Strangers: "She's so expressive!"

Thursday, January 29, 2009

{ Frustrations }

I'm fairly certain that picture gets the award for best picture of Eisley ever taken. We got that hat at the mall the other day, at the most adorable kids store, Janie & Jack. It was on clearance for $5 and Eisley and I decided we had to have it.

Today that photo is cheering me up. I'm frustrated. Lots of little things.

I'm frustrated that Eisley has inherited her daddy's eye problems, because we were so hoping she'd get my genes on this area. We took her to the eye doctor yesterday morning. He confirmed our suspicions. Eisley has accommodative esotropia. Basically, she's farsighted to such an extent that her eyes "over focus", causing them to cross sometimes. It annoys me, even though I know it's not that big of a deal, glasses will eradicate the problem when she starts wearing them just like it has for Justin. But as a mom, I just don't want my baby to have to deal with anything like this. The logical mom in me knows it's impossible to provide this for our children and that no one is perfect, but you can't help but want the best for your child. It's a mom thing, I'm sure you understand if you are one...

I'm also a little frustrated because my oatmeal decided to try and escape from the bowl while it was being microwaved this morning. Grr...

And I'm frustrated because I've been sleep deprived lately. That never makes for a happy Heather. But this is my own fault because I stay up late trying to get things done.

Eisley gets frustrated sometimes too:

Eisley Frustrated



If you're having a bad day, just scroll back up to that adorable photo of my girl. It's quite cheery.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

4 Months


This past Monday my baby girl turned 4 months old. She's only going to live 4 months two more times until she's a year! (This is always how I think of things.)

We took her to the doctor on her 4 month birthday. She checked out GREAT and handled her second DTaP like an old pro. We've been so fortunate to have been given a healthy baby girl. I realized this especially the other day when I came across a website I saw once before. It's for a program called Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (or NILMDTS). It's a program run by photographers who go - at any hour of day or night - to take keepsake pictures of parents with babies who didn't stay long on this earth. Reading all the testimonials from the parents made me cry. Justin then scolded me for looking at it.

But it hit me hard, again. Not only is Eisley alive but she's seemingly perfectly healthy.

SIDS is so very scary to a new hover-mom like myself. I wake up a few times each night frantically searching for signs of life in my baby. I'm slightly consoled by the fact that she's now 4 months, as the majority of SIDS deaths occur between 2 & 4 months of age. But then again she can roll now.

But it's part of my job to protect and watch over my children. It's a mother's nature. I remember Luna when she had her kittens, she became a different cat. She meant business every time we took one of her kittens to hold, she'd follow us and pick up the kitten in her mouth and bring it back to her nest, safe and sound. She also tried to kill my dog once when she got to close to the kittens. That was an interesting night... poor Bella.

Yes, like most mammal mothers, I take my job of protecting Eisley very seriously. But I also constantly worry that I'm not doing a good enough job. And I also don't want to give her a complex. How do you watch over your child effectively without being too paranoid and making them fearful and dependent? It's a fine line to walk. Ugh.

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Crazy Appointment

Okay, warning, this is a long post, I'll try and summarize as much as possible...

So I had my 37 week appointment today. Justin decided to come along, even though I told him it would be boring. I'm glad he did, because it turned out to be a somewhat exciting doctor's appointment. I thought it would be just like last week: pee, blood pressure, see doctor real quick, and you're done.

Well I get there, and for once I got in right away. They weighed me, and I was up 5 lbs from last week! This means I'm retaining water and have officially hit the 20 lbs mark for pregnancy weight gain. Pee'd in a cup, we went into the exam room and waited.

Nurse came in, checked Eisley's heartbeat (145ish, good) and took my blood pressure. 150/90 - whoa! She said that's pretty up there from your baseline so lie on your left side for about 10 minutes and Dr. Watson will re-check it. If it's still high, she says, you might be setting a date here [for induction] pretty soon.

So I lay down on the table on my left side (secretly hoping my BP will stay elevated so I can just get labor over with sooner than later), and about 10 minutes later Dr. Watson comes in and says hi, rechecks my BP and it's all the way back down to 116/60. That's much better and he explains that my high blood pressure develops from my position. He says standing is one of the worst positions (and I think how glad I am I'm not working anymore) and that I should lay on my left side for about two hours a day. Better thand bed rest I guess...

Then he also says he'd like to do an ultrasound today and take some blood work, just to make sure that my bouts of high blood pressure aren't affecting Eisley and my organs.

Before that, he checks her position and sees if I'm dilated anymore. I'm not, and in fact he mentions with a tad bit of concern that I'm still "way up there" and showing no signs of effacement or baby dropping. He says that although she still has time to drop, they usually see more progress at this point. There's a chance my pelvic bone isn't going to be able to withstand the size of her head, or her head is just not making into the right position to drop (like it's tilted or something) and I wouldn't be able to push her through. He said if it's not gonna fit, it's not gonna fit so we won't make you push for hours before giving in and doing a c-section. We'll just have to see.

Great...

So he gets me in with a nurse to draw blood and she has to do it in my puffy Michelin Man hand because my veins always hide. Then the ultrasound tech lady takes us off to her ultrasound room. We got to see Eisley again, but mostly just measurements. Turns out she's about 7 lbs already (the average baby at 37 weeks is about 6.3 lbs) and her head is measuring just a bit larger. There's also a little extra fluid in there, which is better than not enough, but it's why I'm feeling her so much still. The ultrasound tech also comments on her hair! I was shocked, what baby of ours has HAIR that you can see on an ultrasound??? I swear, Justin, this baby is yours!

Then we go back to the exam room to wait for the doctor. He comes in and says that although she's slightly bigger (57th percentile) she's not getting "too big" to where they want to deliver her right away. But he does go on to say that, "You're at that point where you're far enough along to where if anything starts to tip the scale, we'd like to go ahead and induce to avoid complications from arising." He tells us that if anything comes back off with my bloodwork that they'll probably just have me come in for induction. If everything comes back normal, they'll see me again next Wednesday and re-evaluate then.

He also says that babies that don't drop by the time the mother goes into labor are at a much higher risk of needing c-section (about 75%). He also says, after looking over my chart again, that considering my blood pressure issues and my rapid weight gain this week, and Eisley's size - that if I make it to 39 weeks he think that would be a good time to go ahead and get labor started. That's in a week and a half! But that's fine with me!

SO -- the thing is, because Eisley hasn't dropped and isn't showing any progress in that area, my chances of having a c-section are heightened, although nothing is set in stone yet. Also, it's sounding like my BP and baby's size are starting to make him nervous to let me go all the way to 40 weeks. It sounds like, I'll probably be having this baby a bit early. But she's ready, having already made it to 7 lbs and 37+ weeks.

To be honest, I'm sorta hoping they get my bloodwork back and decide it's time just to get me into labor tomorrow. Although that's not likely. It would be nice.

This is how I feel right now:



Monday, June 2, 2008

Glucose test nightmare

So at my 28 week appt last Friday, I had to do the 1 hour glucose test again (I had done it early on in pregnancy and passed just fine with a blood sugar level of 112). This time I tested at 149, about 14 points over what the maximum can be. Looking back, I'm kicking myself in the butt for eating that Egg McMuffin right before my appointment. I thought the protein would be fine, but turns out that the EMcM has 30 grams of carbs in it, which might have made my level higher (they tell you not to eat sugar/carb before the test).

So, failing the 1 hour, I had to take the 3 hour glucose test. Not fun. They have you eat tons of carbs the days before the test, then you fast for 12 hours before the test. So I went in starving this morning (pregnant women don't do well 12 hours without eating) and that means I was nauseous. I get sick to my stomach these days when my tummy is empty. Then, they have you drink a whole bottle of sugary drink, which is best described as soda pop syrup. Then they have you sit around in the office and they test your blood each hour for three hours.

My fasting level, before drinking the sugar, was 84. That's totally good. They want it below 95, and my dad told me that around 70 gets pretty dangerous, so I was doing good so far.
But about 45 minutes into the first hour, I couldn't hold it down anymore. The sugar overload was too much for my starved stomach, and I threw up in the bathroom.

What does that mean? IT MEANS I HAVE TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN! The nurses pitied me, and they gave me a prescription for an anti-nausea drug... why couldn't they have offered me that the first time around???

And between the Egg McMuffin crap and the fasting level of 84, I'm wondering if I really need to be doing this anyway? I am at high risk, because diabetes is so prevalent in our family. But I have no signs of gestational diabetes either (other than the slightly high 1 hour level). Eisley isn't over sized, which is a sign. I haven't gained excessive weight (7 lbs total so far) which is a sign of GD.

Ugh... wish me and my tummy luck on Friday. If that anti-nausea pill doesn't work and I puke again I'm telling them too bad. I'm not doing this a 3rd time.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

24 Weeks! (And comments)

Okay, I fixed the settings so that ANYONE can comment- so leave comments! This blog is so blah cause no one comments... grrr....

I had my 24 week appointment today. It was fast and easy. The baby's heartbeat was 147bpm, perfect. I've only gained 4 lbs so far in pregnancy, and it's a shock every time I weigh in. Each appointment I expect my weight to shoot up 10-15 lbs but so far so good. Baby is growing healthy so all is good.

They measured my uterus for the first time today. It's a little on the large side for how far along I am. Doc said this could be because I'm just carrying high, but just in case they're going to do an ultrasound at my next (28 week) appointment. YAY! He just wants to make sure that there's not too much amniotic fluid or anything, but he didn't sound concerned and honestly I think this is just his reason to use for another ultrasound. At my last appointment they said they pretty much search for reasons to do more ultrasounds. I love my OBGYN practice...

Eisley kicks on a very regular basis now, much stronger. But she's still very mellow and shy it seems. Any outside stimulation like noise, touching my belly, moving at all and she clams up and pretends she's not there. Lol, I wonder if this is a sign as to what her personality will be like. Does it mean she'll be shy? Or just mellow? All I know is that a lot of pregnant women say the opposite, their babies react and kick like crazy whenever they're stimulated in someway.

Time will tell!

Monday, March 31, 2008

20 weeks - Halfway there!

I had my 20 week checkup today. We did an ultrasound video again, but it's not nearly as exciting (just a bunch of measurements) so I'll upload it later and post it here.

Baby had her hands up in front of her face so we couldn't get a look at her! But, I had though that this would be my last ultrasound. The doctor told me that insurance companies usually don't want to pay for more ultrasounds, but they like to get a good look at the baby around 30 weeks again. So, he said, they try their best to find medical reasons to go back and look! But here's a good problem: he said so far I'm doing so well they're really gonna have to look hard for a good reason for another ultrasound if things stay so good.

Which is a good problem for sure! There's a certain level of pride you get when you're pregnant -- and things just keep going so well. All my tests have come back great. Baby is great, looks like there's no defects. She's measuring perfectly. The doctor even said my cervix was so strong that I could be donor. (Obviously he was joking, but he said they like to see them around 30mm, mine was 42mm!) But there's just such a prideful feeling, that I never thought I'd experience, about having kids. Especially when your body is doing such a terrific job at it. Pregnancy has made me realize, on a completely new level, how devestating miscarriage and still births must be. It's easy as an outsider to say, "You had no control, it just wasn't meant to be." But to a pregnant woman it's a completely personal and shameful experience.

People have healthy babies all the time, yes. But on my pregnancy boards and the in the books you read about pregnancy, you realize how much can go wrong. And many of the due in August ladies have had little worries, whether it's bleeding down there, baby isn't measuring right, heartbeat funky, a messed up Quad Screen or AFP. Mine has been completely uneventful, and I have few worries.

Of course, I have 20 more weeks for things to change. And to gain more weight. Today at the doctor's office I weighed in a little over for the first time. I've gained 3 lbs so far! That's not bad for half way through! My uterus is above my belly button too. Last appointment, at 16 weeks I was an inch below!


Oh, and one last little detail, it's 100% a girl. That 5% chance of being a boy from last time has been wiped out. Yay!

Monday, March 3, 2008

IT'S A...........

baby!
No seriously, had my 16 week checkup today and got an ultrasound! Mom and Justin came along, it was very good to see my little baby again. And yes, we found out that it's 95% likely to be --- well, we could just tell you, but it'd be more fun for you to watch:
(turn it up, can be hard to hear the technician's guess. If you can't hear, look in the comments below to see what it is)
16 Week Ultrasound- Gender Determination

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Monday, February 4, 2008

12 Week Ultrasound Pics!

I had my 12 week check up today. Everything is GREAT. I'm having a good pregnancy so far.
First I had the ultrasound, the baby was extremely lively! I was shocked at how much it was moving around and jumping. It was like one of those Mexican jumping beans. It's arms and legs were moving independently as well. We got to see it for extra long because the nurse had a hard time getting the right measurements (stubborn baby!) We could also see it's little heartbeat (159 BPM - perfect!), it's spine, it's ribs, it's NOSE!, mouth, fingers. What a little cutie already. Everything looked great, they determined by measuring it's fluid behind the brain that it has a very low chance of having a birth defect. She even said my cervix "looked beautiful". HA! Never been told THAT one before...

Second thing was to do a glucose test. I was nervous about this one because of my family history of diabetes. They'll do it again around 30 weeks but tested me early because I'm at higher risk. They had me drink a sickeningly sweet orange soda like drink. At the end of my appointment they tested my blood sugar levels to see how my body handled the massive sugar load. My level was 112, which is good! They want a level below 135. Phew!

I also met one of the two doctors today - I'm really happy with the practice so far. The doctor was everything I like in a doctor, took my concerns seriously (not that I have many), spent time talking with us- didn't rush, and was really enthusiastic and easy going about everything. He's also very down to earth and relaxed. When talking about breastfeeding he said, "Some books will tell you to breastfeed to a year but it's not necessary to do it that long and I think it's cruel and unusual punishment once they get teeth." In fact, this is one of the reasons I accepted this referral from a co-worker, she told me these doctors put the comfort and well-being of the mom above all things.

Okay I've rambled on enough, here's my baby pictures! This baby has come a long way since those fuzzy images 5 weeks ago

It looks like an actual human now... kinda:

This picture shows the baby's facial profile really well! Yes, that's it's nose, mouth, eyes... and... is that a baseball hat???
Here, it's little arm is up in front of it's face, cute! I only wish I could show you all how it jumped :)


After our appointment we went to register at Babies R Us. A little early, yes, but we're excited and had the day off together. We picked up this adorable teether, it vibrates when pressure is applied to the corn:

Monday, December 31, 2007

Baby's First Picture!

I had my first prenatal visit this morning. Everything is GREAT so far, although I haven't gotten any news on my blood work yet.


There were only two things I was nervous about:
1. That the baby's heartbeat wouldn't be there (possibly the sign of an impending miscarriage)
2. That the sac would be empty (meaning, baby stopped developing weeks ago and just hasn't aborted yet)

But as soon as the ultrasound went on, there was a little mass inside of that black sac and a fast and furious flicker in the center of it. Our baby has a heartbeat. It's incredible to sit here and think that inside of my body is a fist sized, 23+ year old heart beating and the immature heart of our tiny little zygote is beating independently of mine. The heart was going strong, at about 149 BPM (they like to see it between 130-150). And the baby was exactly the size it should be for 7 weeks -- 12.4MM.

My due date is officially August 18th. Okay, now the fun part, here is little baby Erickson-Sander:



Here, I've labeled what the nurse told me about the hard-to-understand shadows:


The same photo, unaltered:


Using this photo, the nurse was able to determine our bean's heart's BPM:


So there they are, folks! Like I said to my sister earlier today, only a pregnant woman can find these black and white shadowy pictures simply adorable!

Luckily, my doctor does 3D/4D ultrasounds after this (unlike some docs, at no extra cost) so at my 12 week appt in 5 weeks, you'll be able to literally SEE our baby. It's amazing.

One more cool thought: today my baby isn't even as big as a bean. By my 12 week appt in only FIVE WEEKS, it will be about the size of an apple! That's some fast growth there.

Regarding my doctor's office- so far I love everyone I've met and it's been a great experience all around. The doctor even called me at home about 30 mins to congratulate me and let me know to call if I had any questions (today, I just saw a nurse for basic stuff). He sounded genuinely excited for me. Fake or not, it was nice. The nurse says both doctors are phenomenal. I feel lucky to have found them and that they take our insurance.

Cheers!