Heartbeat

I just got back from the MD. It was a much faster appointment than the last one. I was in there for about 5 minutes total! All we did was listen to the heartbeat, which sounded great...147 beats a minute. It was so freakin' loud, it actually shocked the MD a little! My next appointment is July 23. I'll be 18-19 weeks then, and we will schedule the 20 week US at that point.

According to the scale, I have gained 5 lbs since day one (the goal is to only gain 25ish). And I am relatively sure it all came on in the last week. I bought my first pair of 'pregger' pants...the ones with the big soft waist band...they are the greatest! Chris was a little bothered by them...he said they are 'mom jean training pants.' I'm hoping that starting work next week (now that I have passed the board exam and have a license) will keep me gaining just what I need to and nothing more!! I'm so tired of sitting around this house and doing nothing!!!

I tried to get Chris to write an entry for the blog. He said he'll write one when it's 'man time'....when the nursery gets painted and the furniture gets put together!

~Kathy

New Diagnosis

One of the first things my doctor did was a full panel blood screen for all kinds of crazy stuff. I thought it was just to look for pregnancy related issues. But I got a call from her saying that they found that I have a form of Hypothyroidism. TOTALLY unrelated to pregnancy, apparently hypothyroidism is a condition of low thyroid hormone that causes low metabolism and low organ function. She put me on a pill that will level out that issue. She said it is something that I have probably had since I was a kid and would have the rest of my life. Joy. But obviously I was doing fine not knowing I had it in the first place. I know I won't notice this now, since I will be gaining weight steadily regardless thanks to baby, but I am curious if these pills will actually increase my metabolism. We shall see.

She did tell me everything else checked out fine on the blood screen. Apparently these new screens are sensitive enough to pick up warning signs of things like the trisomy conditions and cystic fibrosis. So we can at least be relatively sure we won't have to deal with those now!

~Kathy

Cancelled Tests

I cancelled the elective tests that my doctor suggested to me. She is really young and obviously really into the technology out there and for some people I'm sure these tests are very important. They are meant to detect Down Syndrome and a number of other trisomy conditions, as well as neural tube defects. But in all honesty it doesn't matter to us what they find or don't find on the tests. We would continue with the pregnancy either way. I guess if someone felt differently then it might be worth doing them. On top of that, it is likely not covered by my insurance, as it is an elective procedure, and I would rather spend $600 on baby stuff rather than a few extra ultrasounds!

~Kathy