Normal? Wha?!?!?! (May 5, 2016)

Well, we have been considered "normal" for a week now...they released us from the clinic and have since did our first OB introduction and are meeting with our "real" doctor today. I still can't believe it -- they took me off all of my medicine on Saturday. It feels so weird...I mean, I've been doing shots since January so to get home from work and NOT prep for an injection feels odd. I even went to bed the first couple nights thinking, "WHOOPS! I FORGOT!" but then hubby had to remind me that we aren't doing them anymore. I was really nervous... scared that the baby wouldn't make it without the injections since they quit everything cold turkey. But, they tested my blood and there was a jump in my levels which proved to the docs that I was good to go and be done. Since I was nervous, I talked to M, I emailed Miss N, I texted Risa...I googled tons of information. Lots of people quit cold turkey after 10 weeks, some taper off between 10 and 11 weeks, and some higher risk patients stay on until 13 weeks. But, since we're not considered "high risk" (thank goodness), we were able to just quit. Lots of information online said that if people had signs of distress, aka spotting, cramping, etc. to take an injection and call the doctor ASAP but that didn't happen for us....so we went on as normal.


We went to our "real" OB appointment -- hubby came with and tried playing with every single thing he could touch in the room while we waited for the doctor. One nurse checked us in and she wasn't very pleasant...but, after that we waited and waited and waited for the doctor. He probably didn't come in for a good 30 minutes. But, then he knocked and popped in -- he was wearing a little red bow tie and was very quirky but likeable. We were referred to our OB from a close friend who had nothing but great things to say...so we figured this would be a good fit and it was close to home. We went over soooo many thing, details, testing, schedules, histories, etc. Then he popped me up on the table and said, "Let's listen to the heartbeat!"


Now, we've seen the heartbeat twice, but we've never heard it. We have never known the beats per minute. At our specialty clinic, they showed it to you and let you know if it was normal or not, but we never got to hear it. The doc had this little handheld Doppler...it almost looked like a walkie talkie. Ha! He lubed up my lower abdomen and put the microphone on my skin...he felt around for a while but I wasn't nervous. People said it tends to take some time and we were only 11 weeks. He showed me what the sound of the fluid in my uterus was like and then he closed his eyes and was really "into it" -- then he was like "THERE! Do you hear it?!" I was chuckling inside because he was so serious yet super pumped...honestly, it didn't sound much different than what he had me listen to previously but, I read the Doppler and it said 163 bpm. Our little peanut has a heart beat of 163 beats per minute!!! Wow. I couldn't believe it! I yelled over to hubby (who was right there so I really didn't have to yell), "DO YOU HEAR IT!?!" He smiled and said, "Yes, dear."


After that, everything was a blur...we went through more details, did a pap smear, cervix examine, breast exam, etc. Then he told me I could come back anytime to hear the heartbeat and it wouldn't cost anything more, it could be just for fun as all was normal. So, I'm scheduled to come back on the 23rd. They did have some trouble getting my charts and records from our specialty clinic so when I come back, I'm going to bring my ultrasounds, just in case.  


Wow. I can't believe this! So exciting :)