This Baby!

Well, we had our doctors appointment yesterday. It was the second one, and we weren't sure what to expect. We were told that it would not be as long as the first because they don't have to do as much. We drove up to the office for 9am- in the snow, the roads in the north were way worse than in the south. We got to the office right on time, and barely sat down in the waiting room before we were called in. We met the next doctor in the team of 12 (there are 12 doctors, and we will meet as many as possible, so then we know the doctor on call when we go into labour!). She was very nice, we went into the room, she asked if we had any questions and took my blood pressure. Brett didn't ask for his to be done this time- I think he was scared! Then she asked me to lay down so we could hear the heartbeat (the baby's). For all of you trying to guess the sex of the baby- this is a big hint (not that we know yet- but we are pretty sure now that it is a boy!). The doctor tried for about 10 minutes to find the heartbeat- but couldn't. I started to panic (and so did Brett). I had read about this happening and then the mom going for an ultrasound and finding out she had had a miscarriage. So I was getting worried. The doctor tried to look lower- but nothing. Then she asked me if I still feel pregnant- I think so- but this is my first time being pregnant- so who knows! Then she said we could either wait until our next appointment (4 weeks from then) or go for an ultrasound- We chose the ultrasound- how would we wait and wonder for 4 weeks to find out if the baby was still alive.
She let us leave the clinic, and told us we would get a phone call letting us know when the ultrasound was. So I tried to drop Brett off at work, and started crying as we got there- it was a very stressful time- not to mention it had started to snow- and I hate driving in the snow. I finally calmed down enough to drive, and let Brett go to work. It took me almost an hour to drive home, because of the white out conditions in the city. I had to calm myself so I could focus on driving. When I got home, I called the clinic to see if this was a normal thing. I talked to the receptionist- who is great. She told me she would get the nurse to call and make the appointment right away, and then call me back. I read some stuff on the internet, and quized some of my friends who are pregnant, or have had babies. Most of them said their doctors don't even use the doppler until you are 5 months pregnant for many reasons. After reading up on it, there are many many reasons that you wont hear the heartbeat- the baby has lots of space to move around in there, so they could be moving away from the doppler, the baby could be in the wrong possition, the baby could be closer to your back. Apparently they doppler has to be right over the baby, the baby has to be in a perfect possition, and close to the front of your belly to hear the heart beat. So that calmed me down a bit- but I still wanted to go for the ultrasound. At 12:00 the nurse from the clinic called and told me that we had an appointment at 1:15 in Beddington (for those of you that do not know the city- it is the other end- takes a good 45 minutes to get there from our house). So I got a hold of all the parents that were to come to the dayhome, and they were all fine with it. Then I got a hold of Brett and told him I was on my way back downtown to get him so we could go to beddington. And I was hoping the roads had cleared up. First answer- Roads had cleared up. I got downtown in about 25 minutes, picked up Brett and we got to Beddington just in time. They were squeezing us in- which was really nice of them, because they were really busy! We got in, and it turned out I had drank to much water- and had to let some out. Note to self- and everyone else- the dixie cups in the ultrasound/xray places are there to help people know how much pee to let out- so don't drink from them! So I had to let some out so my bladder wasn't as full. The lady doing the ultrasound quickly found the baby, and a heartbeat. What a relief! Brett and I could breath again when she told us she had a heartbeat. She looked around and then told us the baby looked really good, and she was just going to print the pictures and go over them with the doctor. So we waited- releived. We discussed the fact that the baby is in big trouble come July- and that when the doctor goes to spank it to get it to cry- we are going to request that we get to spank it! The doctor then came back in with the lady, and said, "Do you know you have cysts". We explained what had happened, he had a look, and told us that the hospital was right, there is nothing to worry about now, but to have follow up after the baby is born. Not a big surprise to us- I think he though he was adding more stress to our lives- but nope! We got to leave there, and put an end to our stressful day. We told the baby no more stressing us out until July! We also decided that we are going to tell the doctors at our clinic that we do not want to hear the heartbeat anymore- atleast until the baby is big enough that we can feel it moving around, so we know- if we can't find the heartbeat, it has to be there if the baby is moving! After reading all the articles and stuff on these dopplers that hear the heartbeat- I would recommend that for everyone that is planning on getting pregnant, or knows people that are getting pregnant- or are pregnant- as cool as it is to hear your babies heart beat for the first time- save the first time for after you are about 5 months- because the stress you go through when you can't find it- is not worth it. You will eventually hear the babies heartbeat- so just save it for when you are sure the doctor can find it, and save yourself the stress. Trust me- there is a reason some doctors don't use these things- we were even told in both hospitals over Christmas, that it was way to early to hear it. But at that point we thought we had- but when we think back- it was probably just mine- there is no way it was beating at 175 beats per minute.

So all in all, everything is fine! Everything is great! This baby owes its parents an appology though! Brett was saying that he was with me, and thinks now that it is a girl- because she is being a pain in the ass. But after the ultrasound- we agreed- we think it is a boy- just trying to stir up some trouble! We will find out in another month- Feb 23rd- so again, if you don't want us to tell you, tell us now and we will try- and also- all bets must be in by Feb 22- send me an email if you want to make a guess!