Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Why Patience Truly Is a Virtue

Way back when Dan and I first found out that we're going to be parents, we freaked out and scheduled an appointment on base with an OB as soon as possible. We got in, and all they did was test me. Go figure - I had already taken about a bajillion at home.

I got phone calls from every single clinic that I'd previously been seen in on base (quite a few due to my allergies and asthma) congratulating me. Why they ALL got my test results, I have no idea.

Regardless, it was tough waiting five days to go in for our first ultrasound. The week was so slow, as we just wanted to see our tiny baby! We weren't sure how far along I was, which is why they scheduled the dating ultrasound so soon.

Well, we went, and the doctor found the gestational sac and what she said was probably a yolk sac... but there was no baby. Talk about emotions... we had JUST wrapped our minds around having a baby, and now they're telling us there is no baby?!


I came home, completely freaked out, and Googled what an ultrasound should look like early on... and lots of other women were sharing stories like mine. Phew. I was just way earlier than we thought... no big deal.

The doctor scheduled a follow up for the following week, saying we would for sure see a baby and a heartbeat then. So we waited another week, and I went back in (alone this time because Dan was in class). The doctor pulled up the image on the screen, and while it had grown, there still wasn't much to look at.

Cue the panic. I'm already a worrier, and this did NOT help my anxiety levels. The doctor was eager to tell me that "things have definitely progressed, and we see a fetal pole now (early baby)", but there still was no heartbeat. Bummer. She scheduled yet another follow up ultrasound because everything was still too small to give me an official due date... and I went home feeling defeated once again.


Again, though, Google told me that sometimes, you can't see the heartbeat until seven weeks. (In retrospect, I was barely six weeks when this ultrasound was done, so it's no wonder we couldn't see the heartbeat). I felt better, and we traveled that weekend to see some good friends and ended up telling them our news, despite being cautious still. 

The next ultrasound wasn't for TWO weeks. The doctor wasn't to be absolutely sure things were progressing like they should, and let me tell you: those were the two longest weeks of my life. Not only did I have a sinus infection and ear infection at the time, but I couldn't stop wondering if everything was okay inside of me. 

We went back in, together this time, and as soon as the doctor pulled up the image on the screen, we saw a heartbeat! Baby Cookie's little heart was beating so fast at 160 beats per minute. It was exciting to see after waiting so long, and the doctor then told me how far along I was: just over eight weeks. 

It all made sense then. We had been trying to see something BEFORE it was even formed enough to see. Oops. Moral of the story: wait as long as you possibly can before going to the doctor when you find out you're pregnant. Otherwise, you may deal with nearly a month of panic. 


I finally felt confident, and during this time, we let the world know about our tiny human. We shared the news one Facebook and on the blog, and it was so nice to have everything out in the open. Since I have pretty bad asthma, my doctors are keeping a close eye on me. I see my pulmonologist frequently, but they also wanted to see me one more time in the OB clinic when I was 11 weeks. 

Yeah, going to the doctor isn't fun... but I will never pass up an opportunity to see that baby inside of me. All of my appointments so far have been at the same time in the afternoon - and Baby Cookie has ALWAYS been sleeping. It's so funny to know that he/she has a nap time too. 


Since then, we've been able to see our baby a couple more times during trips to the ER due to kidney stones (but that's a whole other topic...), and it was exciting to see him/her wiggling around then due to it being a different time of day. We are super looking forward to our big anatomy scan in April because we'll find out the sex then... but we already got a clue from the ultrasound tech in the ER, so we're pretty excited! Until it's confirmed, though, I won't be sharing that information. 

Do you like going to the doctor?
Did you have a lot of ultrasounds?