We had our very first ultrasound on Thursday!! The day started off very uncertain, but ended on a note of huge relief (in more ways than one.) Here's the story:
We had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday. During the visit, the doctor brought out a Doppler to listen to the baby's hearbeat. I was so excited to hear the heartbeat, that I didn't mind the fact I was lying on the cold table completely naked, save for a few pieces of strategically placed paper. After about five minutes of the doctor moving the wand type thing over my abdomen, she decided to give up. "Well, it looks like we won't be hearing a heartbeat today," she said. I was confused, because I thought that at ten weeks you were able to hear the heartbeat, and I was well over ten weeks. I asked her if it was anything to be concerned about, and she said "not necessarily."
I proceeded to change back into my clothes while she stepped out of the room. When she came back, she handed me a piece of paper saying that an ultrasound was being requested. I asked why, and she told me that she was concerned she hadn't heard a heartbeat and I needed to make sure everything was okay asap. I started silently freaking out. I told her that I hadn't shown any signs of a miscarriage, but apparently that doesn't mean I hadn't had one. I told her I would call the hospital as soon as I left, and thanked her, trying to make my way out of the room before I started crying. We made our appointment for Thursday afternoon, which essentially meant we were both nervous wrecks for two days.
Now, no one told me how miserable I would be the day of my ultrasound. When I made my appointment, the man on the phone told me I would need to drink 32 oz of water an hour before my appointment, and that I couldn't go to the bathroom until my ultrasound was over. Hahahahahaha. So, on the way to the hospital I chugged a liter of Fiji. As soon as we got there I had to pee, but I figured it would be alright. It was 1:30 and my appointment was at 1:45. I could last fifteen minutes, but fifteen minutes it was not.
At around 2:00, I started losing it. I was rocking back and forth in my chair, squeezing Adam's hand. I had the worst pain in my abdomen. "I have to pee RIGHT NOW," I told Adam. He told me I was being dramatic, and then quickly followed it with "I love you," after he realized he wanted to live to see his 25th birthday. I ran up to the front desk and said to the clerk "I am in a lot of pain, is there anyway I can go to the bathroom? I know I'm not supposed to, but can we bend the rules?" The clerk told me I'm really not supposed to, because without a full bladder, the ultrasound wouldn't work. The she saw the pathetic look on my face and told me I could go A LITTLE bit. Just enough to relieve the pressure.
"THANK YOU!!" I exclaimed, as I bolted towards the bathroom door. It didn't work. Five minutes later, I was right back to where I started. I started declaring that I was in fact dying and would, in fact, pee my pants at any second. I swear I saw Adam mouth the words "I'm sorry," to the other patients sitting in the waiting room. At about 2:10, I raced up to the front desk. I was crying at this point. "I'm sorry to bother you again," I said frantically, "but do you know how much longer it's going to be, because I'm dying over here." The clerk called someone on the phone and when she hung up she told me it would be at least another twenty minutes. OH MY GOD!!
She allowed me to go to the bathroom once again (just a little), but after that I had to drink more water. This didn't do anything to help, but I appreciated her kindess and the fact that she didn't call security on me. Finally, at around 2:45, the ultrasound technician came to get me. Adam and I follwed her into a dark room with a bed for me to lay on. At this point, I had to pee so bad, that I wasn't even thinking of the fact that we might not see a baby on there. Which, maybe was a good thing. I layed on the table and started groaning and not laying still. My abdomen was hurting and my kidneys were killing me. The technician rubbed jelly on me, turned on the machine and after an image of my insides popped up, said "Oh my God, your bladder is huge! No wonder you're in so much pain. Go to the bathroom! Go, go!!" I shot Adam the" I Told You So" of I" Told You So "looks, and bolted, once again, to that sweet, sweet white porcelain goddess of relief.
Five minutes later, I layed back on the table and we were ready to proceed. She rubbed more jelly on me and started moving the wand around. At first, I couldn't see anything. Only my bladder and uterus. I was really scared that the baby was gone. Then, the technician clicked a button that zoomed in on the image. "There's your baby," she said. I couldn't believe my eyes. There on the screen was the cutest little fetus I've ever seen. We could see the heart beating and it kept hopping up and down, and bopping its head. The technician explained to us that we had a very active baby and that's why the doctor couldn't find the heartbeat. Even she couldn't get the baby to sit still long enough to hear it, and she could see it on a monitor! "This baby is going to be kicking you a lot," she told me, with a sympathetic smile. Great.
I asked her over and over and over again if everything looked okay. She told me it did. So I zipped up my pants, hopped off the table, and she printed us out a picture of our baby, whom we nicknamed Thumper. After one more trip to the bathroom, we were ready to leave the hospital. The three of us. I had the proof in my hand. The kid is staying in the picture.
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