An infertile walks into an OB office...

Friday, February 25, 2011

Actually, it is my normal ob/gyn's office. And, by some cosmic wierdness, I think there were probably 8 other women in the waiting room, and they were all visibly pregnant. It must have been Divine intervention that the times in the last three years that I've gone there for my annual appointments there were only older women and younger (not visibly pregnant, if they were) women there.

So I filled out all the intake paperwork (because, of course I had left the exact same paperwork that they had mailed me and that I had filled out...at home). I get called back, and the tech asks me what I weighed before I was pregnant.

Time sort of stood still at that point- I couldn't believe that I am here, talking about me being pregnant. I am going to pee in a cup, and the test they do will be like the 6 I've done in the past month that were all positive.

Turns out I am up one pound from what I weighed in August. I consider that to be not too shabby, considering I ate (and drank) plenty of extra calories over Thanksgiving and Christmas. I guess I may have weighed more 4 weeks ago, but with the nausea that so pleasantly reminds me that there's a little one along for the ride, I may have lost some recently (just by not wanting to eat anything). I refuse to buy a bathroom scale, so day-to-day, I am blissfully ignorant.

The midwife is awesome. I am so glad I decided to see her. She didn't even blink an eye when she asked me about what I'd written on the "questions or concerns about this pregnancy". It went something like this:

Having struggled with infertility, I imagine I will be fairly "needy" when it comes to this pregnancy- as far as hearing the heartbeat often and coming for ultrasounds as often as possible/safe/waranted. That being said, I haven't had any indication that there is anything wrong, and I'm praying for a healthy pregnancy and baby!"

Yes, I wrote that I am going to be needy on a medical form!!! Hahaha :) I was cracking myself up, but the midwife needed to know this!!! She responded with wonderful empathy and interest in what we'd been through. It was perfect.

Since my last annual was just in August and it was normal, they didn't do another pap. THANK THE LORD. And I do mean, thank God. Because I was really nervous about someone messing with my cervix right now. I was going to beg and plead to not have one if they were going to make me.

I asked her about ultrasounds, and she said that basically only two are authorized under normal circumstances- one to confirm/date the pregnancy, and the big 20-week one. (I declined the NT scan and the other malady scans- it wouldn't change what we'd "do" about the pregnancy, and I think if there were even a tiny thing wrong or even debatable, I'd spend the rest of my pregnancy worrying about it.)

I may have neglected to interrupt her here and tell her that we already had one at 6w2d. I don't know if that is hugely shameful or not, but I am hoping that (from insurance perspective), this one will still be covered because it is the first from the OB office. It's not like I was under the RE's care when we conceived, so.... AND, it is good to have another one to confirm that the baby is growing healthily and the dates we thought are still on track. RIGHT??

Then she told me that this ultrasound would be transvaginal, and had I ever had one? I've had hundreds, I told her! She laughed, because she realized as soon as she said it that I would have had some from all the procedures last year.

The ultrasound tech was fast! My midwife was in the room, too, and she was rubbing my shoulder when the baby came onto the screen. I think she knows how much this little one means to us, and how blessed we feel. The baby looks right on track- even wiggling some!- and has a heartbeat of about 150. She said that was great, and the ultrasound tech told me that she had struggled with infertility, too, so she knew how I felt. They gave me 4 pictures! I added a new page for ultrasounds (to the right, above my ticker), so if you want, you can see what I think is the best one.

I still have a hard time believing that this is all happening. It is extremely difficult to put into words how grateful I am, and how amazing it is that this baby is here and growing perfectly! After all we tried last year (and the two-plus years prior) that failed, I really didn't think that we would ever have success on our own. I am speechless with how remarkable it is that there is a wiggling PERSON inside my very own womb whose heart is beating and who is growing up a storm. I am not taking one second of this experience for granted- it is really sad to me how many women take pregnancy and children as totally routine and normal and boring.

I honestly was 2% sure that God would bless us with a baby (pregnancy), and probably 0.5% sure that it would be the old-fashioned way. Just goes to show you that your estimations of what God has in store for you have a good chance of being way off. If you are still waiting for your miracle baby today and your mother's heart is broken, perhaps this verse (which is one of my top three post-it'ed on my computer) will comfort and encourage you today. I can't tell you how many times I repeated it to myself in the darkest of times! God's purpose of expanding your family cannot be thwarted!!!

I know that You can do all things,
and that
no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
(Job 42:2)

21 comments:

RMCarter said...

I loved the ultrasound pic! Cute little baby you have there. :) Sounds like you are in good hands.

Sky said...

This was so encouraging :-) Thanks for your uplifting post, and I'm so so excited that God blessed you with a baby!

Rebecca said...

I am so happy for you and glad the ultrasound went great!

Jos said...

This post made me smile the whole way through. I'm so happy for you A. :-)

AL said...

I'm so glad you have a midwife that is so understanding and had another ultrasound to see how the little one is doing!! It's awesome isn't it? Even after the five ultrasounds and the baby kicks I still can't believe it's happening for me..I think that surrealness will last through the whole pregnancy.

Coco said...

I LOVE that you wrote you'll be needy! And the ultrasound is gorgeous! So happy that they gave you another one, and you shouldn't feel at all guilty. :)

Anonymous said...

I'm glad everything went well and you got lots of pics of the baby! Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Wow your ob's office sounds great. I love what you wrote down on the form. I would have written something similar. I didn't really get a form like that to fill out, but they did know I was coming from the infertility place. So glad everything is going well!

Baby Hopes said...

Amazing verse!!! I always look forward to your posts! I love that you're posting pics!!!

Becky said...

Praise God! So happy you and the little one are doing so well!

Anonymous said...

I love that you put "needy" on your medical form- you bet I will be doing that if I am blessed to one day get through this darkness.

Thank you for an uplifting and inspiring post.

holly said...

Sounds like an amazing appointment. I'm so glad you got to see that sweet baby again. LOL on the needy part. I might write the same thing.

Bridget said...

I'm just so happy for you! Glad your first OB appointment went so well!

Unknown said...

Can you be any more adorable! I love that you were honest and got staight to the point with the midwife! Cheers to being needy!!! <3

Alison said...

Your miracle pregnancy is such an inspiration and I am just SO thrilled for you, A!

One Who Understands said...

I love that you put you would be needy on the form. They do need to know that kind of stuff and be ready. So happy baby is growing and both of you are doing well.

Anonymous said...

You are doing so awesome and I love how soothing and understanding your midwife is! The office sounds like the perfect place for your care.

And go you on the u/s. I think every single one of us IFers would've done the EXACT same thing. It's awesome you got to see your little guy/gal wiggling around in there!!!

Keep up the great work, Mama! xoxo

Leah said...

So happy your ultrasound went well! :) And I think it's great that you told your midwife you would be a bit needy. I told my midwives the same thing, and they were always so sensitive about my story about getting pregnant.

I did the NT scan. . . not because I would do anything about the pregnancy, but because I was in no way going to refuse any ultrasound offered. :)

Trisha said...

So happy for you that things are continuing to go well! We serve an awesome God!

Melissa said...

Aw! Such a great picture!:)

And I loved what you wrote on your medical form. Hey, she needed to know that!

We did the NT scan - The Hubs has a heart condition - but I wanted another peak at our little one.

Adele said...

A, I'm glad that it was a good consultation and especially glad that people in your OB's office sound sensitive and supportive.