In the weeks that have passed since we discovered that I was pregnant, I have been very concerned. Between my job as a research assistant, thyroid problems and taking industrial strength anti-depressant/anti-anxiety drugs, the list of potential problems is loooong.
I had my first ultrasound today. According to the technician, the embryo is about 8 weeks old. It has one head, four limb buds (all in the correct places) and a healthy heart beat. The Mouseling is about the size of a dime and looks a bit like a teddy bear. Everything is nice and normal.
That is about the same time I saw my daughter for the first time. I had been trying for years and had bleeding for about two weeks. The sonogram was to make sure she was viable. I’ll never forget seeing her on the screen. My little high risk, maybe not viable, maybe down syndrome, premature baby should be waking up from her nap now. She’s 17 months old and perfect.
But oh, that first shot of her on the sonogram. I was really, honestly pregnant. My daughter was so still at first I thought there was something wrong, but the tech said she was just relaxing and she started moving around soon enough.
I’m sitting here with tears running down my face remembering how amazing it was to first see my daughter.
What a long, terrifying, wonderful, fast and amazing road it has been.
Hee. I got one of my son at 10 weeks, and he looks like an alien. Seriously. Triangular head, big eyespots (not real eyes, of course), and this little lima bean of a body with paddles. It was 15 years ago, so the resolution wasn’t all that great on most of the shots, but the alien baby was clear as day.
We got a ton done of my daughter 3 years ago. They use ultrasound so much more often now. On her birth day, they did an amnio and also injected blue dye in the sac to check for leakage, and she grabbed for the needle! She also had hiccups, which was very cute to see. And even though things were looking pretty grim at that point, I still smiled and teared to see her on the monitor!
We have some. Mouse_Spouse needs to scan them into the computer. (My beloved is an amature photographer. *Thou shall not mess with my imagining equipment * is a house rule. ) He’s at work right now, so I’ll ask him to take care of that tonight. I’m being bad and staying home. The ultrasound had to be internal (shudder) because abdominal wasn’t getting a good picture, so I went home to soak in the bath.
I’m glad to hear that everything turned out OK. Like you, it has finally dawned on me that this is really happening. :eek: Our little one would not keep still! The tech had to try several times (and a different angle ) to get a good look.
Luckly, we were warned. The tech let me go to the bathroom (relief!) and take off my pants, etc. When I came out -with a sheet wrapped around me - I saw the wand. :eek: “Don’t worry,” said the tech. “Its mostly handle.” I hope so, I thought. That looks like something we’d pick up at the Adult Toy Store.
Congrats! And lucky you! I won’t get my first ultrasound until I’m 18-20 weeks – my midwife practice doesn’t do pregnancy confirmation ultrasounds.
We did get to hear the baby’s heartbeat on Thursday, though – and we could hear the little bean doing flips! That surprised me. I mean, now that I think about it, it makes sense that if we can hear the heartbeat we should be able to hear the thing moving, but I’d never thought about it before. So that was really cool.
I had an ultrasound in September to see if I had an ovarian cyst, and it was the first time that my reading of infertility blogs came in handy – I was prepared for the internal wand (or “cooter cam” as my friends inside the computer call it).
Are you feeling any better? Less morning sickness and fatigue? Did you enjoy your birthday dinner? We’re going out Saturday for mine… I want escargot! I asked my midwife if escargot were safe during pregnancy. I couldn’t think of a reason they wouldn’t be, but she’s the expert, right? She gave me the funniest look – she’d obviously never had that question before! She said that as long as they’re cooked it’s fine, so we are going to a nice French restaurant for snails.
One of the reasons I had the ultrasound is that I wasn’t entirely sure when my last period was, so calculating a due date was tricky. Now we have a better idea: September-ish.
Morning sickness has die down some, thank goodness. I still feel really tired. The biggest challange right now is my mood: I don’t want to talk to ANYBODY. I’ll spend most of my time moping around the house.
Have fun with the escargot. I’ve eaten some strange things: squirrel, alligator, crawfish, but I haven’t tried snails - yet.
Septemberish? The 10th is a wonderful day to bring in a new alien life form. IMHO.
Thanks btw, my hubby and I just went through our online photo gallery of our buggy and now are again talking about little version 2.0.
Confession: When I first saw my daughter on the screen, I thought she was a sample baby at which time the sonogram tech would explain to me what I was going to see. The tech thought I was nuts. She may have been trial size then…
What’s going on with September 10th? Just curious.
Mouse_Spouse has brought up subject of having two kids. I just want to get thru pregnancy #1 before thinking about other editions.
Hee hee. I scared my ob’s assistant last week because I lost my temper.
The assistant was going through a list of questions about my medical background.
“Have you ever been physically or sexually abused?”
“Yes.”
There was a pause, she looked up. “Have you ever been physically or sexually abused?”
“Yes damn it! It does happen you know. We do exist, survive and move on.”
Poor woman was not expecting that. She caught me tired and nauseated. I’ll try to behave next time.
That one is used on your stomach. If they can’t get a good image, the “wand” is inserted vaginally. :eek: The woman who was doing my ultrasound said that I could insert it or she could. I was on my back with my feet in stirups, the only option I saw was her doing it, which was embarassing to ask.
Wow, I wish that had been on my OB/gyn’s checklist. Would have made my freaking out at a cervical biopsy much easier to explain.
The wand for my internal was very long, but much narrower than, say, your average dildo, and it didn’t go in as far as even a tampon. It was a little weird, but it didn’t hurt. Not anywhere near as bad as a speculum.
Same here. I was really confused as to why I had to strip from the waist down. I had my first ultrasound at around 11 weeks. My OB’s office has a really fancy machine - they told me to bring in a CD, so I have all of the pictures (not just some of them) on my computer. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring one to my second U/S, and then forgot on my subsequent appointment. (That would be the pregnancy brain.) Then we somehow lost most of the paper pictures they gave us. So we only have one - but it’s the “yoga” one.
I had mixed feelings about the question. Hindsight being 20/20, I can see the usefullness of it. Someone with a traumatic past may not be comfortable with being naked and vulnerable with a stranger. However, I think the staff needs to be informed that they will get an occasional “yes” and how to cope.
A very good description. Panic made it look huge to me.
I don’t know, maybe it’s because I haven’t been pregnant and went through the whole song and dance of prenatal care - but that WAND you guys are talking about is scaring me! I involuntarily squeezed my legs together after reading that. It seems so invasive because there’s something up there! Should you be poking around there with this prophylactic-wrapped thingamabob?? Gah more things to think about when the SO and I start planning to have children…
) He’s at work right now, so I’ll ask him to take care of that tonight. I’m being bad and staying home. The ultrasound had to be internal (shudder) because abdominal wasn’t getting a good picture, so I went home to soak in the bath.
) to get a good look.