The First Appointment

Our first appointment was January 12th at about 81/2 weeks along. We weren't quite sure what to expect for this first appointment. I was pretty sure we wouldn't be having an ultrasound and I was prepared that we wouldn't be able to hear the heartbeat since I read that it can be hard to hear anything this early. So wasn't quite sure what we would be talking my midwife (Lindsey) about or what kind of exam there would be. I've been seeing Lindsey for the last few years and have developed a friendly, comfortable relationship with her. So I was excited to see her now that I was pregnant and have her and Rion meet!

I could tell Rion was a little nervous as we walked back to the room to meet Lindsey, most likely due to the fact he was the only male in sight =). Once in the room a nurse took my blood pressure and then started to go over the results of my blood test taken a few weeks previously. She began to tell us about how I was Rh negative, lacking a particular protein on my blood cells. I guess if the baby is Rh positive the mixing of our blood could create antibodies in my system that could treat the baby as an intruder in my body. I've never heard of this before so I was completely thrown off, but I guess it should be fine just means that I will need to be given a shot at around 20 weeks and be given another shot after the baby's born if the baby's blood is Rh positive. I guess these shots should prevent antibodies from developing or at least I hope so.

Eventually Lindsey joined us in the room and luckily since I had just seen her a few months prior we didn't have to do any physical exam! Yay! So she answered some of our questions and then pulled out the doppler to try and hear the heartbeat. She searched for a couple minutes with no luck and then all of a sudden there it was. The most beautiful sound I've ever heard! Tears of relief and amazement came to my eyes and streamed down my face. I was shocked that the emotions I was having were so strong, but I guess that's hormones ya =). At this point in the pregnancy I was so terrified that I was going to miscarry since my Mom and Grandma had both miscarried their first babies that it was a weight lifted from my shoulders that we actually did have a baby in there and he or she had a heart beat! Luckily Rion was quick enough to pull out his phone and get the sound captured on video. It was so sweet to see his excitement, he was equally amazed and couldn't wait to share the video with friends and family.

 I love listening to this video, whenever I feel negative about being pregnant I watch this video and remember the feeling I felt when I first heard this sound.

Baby's Heartbeat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8THiv0JquzM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

December 9th, 2011

Hopefully I will never forget this day =). To ensure I don't forget this day or the other experiences I've had in the last few months I'm jumping back into the blogging world! It's not so much that I hope others read this and find it entertaining, that would be a bonus, but I look at it as a resource to remember what I'm feeling and thinking months or even years down the road.

December 9th, 2011 was a Friday. I woke up that morning feeling a bit weird but thought it might be due to the one to many drinks I had the night before. Rion and I had just started trying to have a baby so I knew there was a possibility I could be pregnant and decided why not take a test before heading into work. When I saw the double positive line I smiled and then immediately thought, "oh crap, we're gonna have a baby". Yes this is definitely what we wanted, but once it happens it's a bit of a reality check. Questions like can we even afford a baby and are we ready to be parents started running thru my mind.  I walked into the bedroom where Rion was sleeping and told him the news. I think he said something along the lines of "yaaaa" but in a half asleep voice =). 

The rest of the day was a blur and uninteresting compared to the wonderful news I was hiding from everyone else. That evening we told Marcus (Rion's Brother) and Mary and Jake our best friends. It was so unreal and so exciting to tell others that we were actually pregnant! We were going to have a baby!

The next day we told the grandparents. For Rion's parents we just sent Thea (Rion's Mom) a picture via text message of the pregnancy test. Within a few minutes they called ecstatic with the news that they were going to be grandparents. For my parents I called my Mom and blurted out, "so I'm pregnant"......there was at least a minute of silence on the phone while she processed this information. See we kept telling people it would be at least a year before we tried to have a baby, had to throw them off the trail =). If I remember right she finally laughed and then started to ask me how I was feeling and all that other mom stuff. She then handed the phone over to my Dad for me to tell him "well Dad I'm pregnant"....again silence....nothing "Dad I'm going to have a baby, you're going to be a grandpa". Finally he broke out into laughter and Mom said she saw a tear in his eye.