11 1/2 Week Checkup

Yesterday's appointment was quick and *mostly* painless.

I started off by peeing in a cup (I hear I will be doing a lot of that for the next several months!). Then I met with the nurse, and she weighed me and checked my blood pressure. I was sure I would have gained weight by now, but NO - I LOST weight again!!! I am down to 134 now. I have been trying to lose weight for years, and to no avail. And now that I'm actually supposed to gain weight, the pounds keep falling off! At this point, I think I'm just losing muscle since it's been a few weeks since I've been in the gym. It's looking like I won't be gaining any weight in the first trimester!

After chatting with the nurse, I met with my doctor. I asked him all of my questions. He said that if I decide to use self-tanning lotion, I should wait until the 2nd trimester. He also recommended that I DO get the flu shot (both seasonal and H1N1), but I can't get either one until the 2nd trimester. I also asked him if the 20-week ultrasound was a routine procedure, and he said that yes, it is! After I finished asking questions, he checked for the baby's heartbeat. He said that at first it can be hard to find the heart beat, but he found it right away! It was beating at a strong 140-150 (that seems like a wide range to me, but he said it sounded perfectly normal.) He said that I look great, and everything seems to be going well.

After talking to the doctor, I went back with the nurse and she took my blood for the first of the prenatal screening tests. Here is where the not-so-painless part comes in. I HATE having my blood drawn. When she stuck me at first, it hurt! and so I cringed, and apparently twisted my arm a bit. She had to start over!!!! I got all teary-eyed, and she kept telling me how I needed to relax and not twist. The second time worked fine, but by that point, I had tears about to spill over. I was so embarrassed to walk out of there after obviously crying, but I think I pulled it off okay. I blame the hormones!!! She also said that they were all out of the flu shot, but since I can't get it for a couple more weeks anyway, I didn't mind. (She did call me later in the afternoon to tell me that they got it in, but I'm sure it'll be gone by the time I can get it!)

So, next Tuesday is my Nuchal Translucency ultrasound, and then my next regular appointment is November 24th. I can't believe that I'll be in my second trimester so soon!!! My birthday is coming up, and I'll hit the 2nd trimester right around that time. Yay! We are going on vacation a week later, so I think I'll try to get the flu vaccine a few days before we leave.