First Prenatal Checkup! (written June 13)

The fifth in a series of pregnancy-related posts.


Our first prenatal checkup was not without hiccups, but we left the hospital happy, thanks to five little ultrasound pictures.

We were also very excited to meet the doc, who was smiley, energetic, and best of all, very knowledgeable. Alan remarked that it seemed like she had done this "quite a few times," which was very reassuring.

There was not much too the appointment; vital signs were checked and I discovered that I had already put on 5 pounds. While this was no surprise, really, seeing the number on the scale made eating healthy and exercising seem all the more pressing. Still, women who've done this before will understand that nausea and strange cravings and overwhelming tiredness have a way of curbing the best of your intentions. Here's hoping I'll regain some sense of normalcy in the second trimester!

The doctor confirmed my uterus was in the right place. Apparently it's grown to the size of a grapefruit (speaking of grapefruits, it's too bad I'm not a huge fan anymore--orange juice is much more appealing these days). My pelvis was also given the OK for birthing...*cringe*.

Then it was time for the black-and-white show. At this stage in the game it's a bit early for ultrasounds like you see in the movies, so I had to toughen up for something a bit more, ah, invasive. It was all worth it--even when the first machine broke, and even when the second machine was discovered to be out of photo paper, and they had to get a small army of corpsmen in the room to repair the situation.

We saw the little munchkin (our doc's words), but not much was visible. We know where the head and the rump are, as well as the yolk sac, and apparently there are arm buds somewhere in there, but to our untrained eyes it looks like a blob. Just to clarify, it's a beautiful blob. :)

It was definitely an emotional visit, and made the whole thing seem that much more real (though, as I've mentioned before, nausea has helped with that, too). Alan was beaming and I just couldn't stop looking at the pictures. It was slightly disappointing to find out we weren't quite as far along as we'd thought--the last word on that was 8 weeks 1 day--but the days will go fast and in just a few days we'll be where we thought we were last week.

Another exciting piece of news: we have a due date! January 19, 2012. I'm looking forward to that baby weight keeping me warm through part of the winter. ;)

In symptoms news, it's about the same. The nausea is still mild, but almost constant, and very annoying when it comes to food choices. I'm on to Frosted Mini-Wheats for breakfast, which have nowhere near the nutritional value my favored Wheat Chex have, but they're much more appealing. I need to be eating more vegetables. Fruit is always tasty (especially cold, watery fruits like melon) and meat is still beckoning my name...although the other day I felt I had had with red meat and just wanted a green salad. (With the recent E coli outbreak, the commissary wasn't selling any, but as of yesterday they had reversed their policy... so a bright green head of Romaine eagerly awaits in the fridge!). Pasta still turns me off, but I am feeling much better about bread. In fact, I had a bit of baguette with Brie (made with pasteurized milk, of course) and it was oh-so-good. It was a little frustrating to stand at the cheese counter and realize that 80% of it was off-limits, but it's a worthy sacrifice. Even buttered bread sounds good now...something pre-pregnancy-me avoided like the plague.

My analysis so far? Pregnancy sure is a topsy-turvy world. I'm sure Alan can attest to that, thanks to my raging hormones and violently shifting mood swings. It's definitely not the most pleasant of feelings--I always feel "off"--but it's such a blessing and I cannot wait to see what the remaining months bring.