Doctor's Visit Updates!

Sorry for the delay, but I'm just now finding a few minutes - before my students start herding in for the day - to update my blog about our visit with the doctor on Monday!

I left school early to meet Zig at the hospital and see Dr. Grill for the 2nd time on Monday afternoon! This appointment meant more to us than just a regular exam - which, by the way, won't happen again until 36 weeks!! - mostly because we knew that we were going to try to listen for the peanut's heartbeat!
Of course - I wouldn't be ME if I hadn't spent the last few weeks worrying about whether or not we'd be able to hear the heartbeat - so this appointment had me a little on edge!

They took us into the office, did the usual weighing (blah...), blood pressure, and pee-in-a-cup rituals...
All of the reports seemed to be great! Not only have I NOT gained any weight yet, but I've actually lost 2 pounds! (Zig informed me of this last night - he said he "peeked" when I was on the scale!) My blood pressure was right where it should be for now and the urine test was normal - not showing any problems at all! YAY!

We spent the next few minutes talking about the next round of tests that will be performed at our next visit in 4 weeks. The nurse asked us if we had given any thought to the Quad Screen tests that are used to look for chromosomal defects in the baby really early on - like Downs Syndrome, CP, and other really scary things. I have mixed feelings about this test because of what I watched my sister go through with Joshua - they received the famous 'false positive' results and had to go through many more (really scary) tests and ultrasounds just to find out if Joshua was OK. Thank the Lord that he is as perfect as he is...but the scare of the test is enough to make a Mommy and Daddy crazy!
Zig and I both decided that we would rather know if something was wrong with our baby and be prepared, than not know... So as scary as the testing can be, we agreed to have it done and will be starting the process on April 14 at our next appointment. It's a simple blood test that will hopefully come back NEGATIVE for anything risky - so I'll start praying now that everything is OK.

And THEN... The nurse reached for the tiny little Doppler machine sitting on the table next to me and started to get ready to listen for the baby's heartbeat. She warned me that it might 'take a few minutes to find since the baby is so small...' Zig got up from his chair and came over to stand beside me - I was terrified that we would hear nothing but silence. And then...we heard it! Only 10 seconds into her searching, the nurse said "There it is!" My giggling made her lose her place, so she had to search again - but this baby didn't put up a fight at all!
The beautiful sound of galloping horses in my belly had to be the most amazing sound I've ever heard in my life! It brought tears to my eyes and Zig's...and that had to be the best part for me.

The nurse finished up, cleaned my belly from the Doppler, and asked Dr. Grill to come in and see us to end our visit. When he came in, he was very happy to see how great things looked! He said that everything was going exactly as it should be - which instantly eased my mind! Before he leaves, he always asks if we have any questions for him...so I started firing away about what to expect next!
I was most worried about when to expect the next ultrasound - especially since we would like to know the sex of this baby!
My dear friend Leah and her husband are about 8 weeks ahead of us and are finding out THIS WEEK what they are having, so I figured that it would maybe be within the next 2 visits that we could get our ultrasound scheduled... Finding out will tell us whether we are giving Baby Noerr a PROM DATE or a BEST FRIEND!

So...when Dr. Grill told us that he won't be sending us again for another ultrasound until 28-30 weeks, I almost fell off the table! He said there is no guarantee in finding out until the baby is 7-8 months developed, so he doesn't even bother sending his patients until then! Well, I'm sorry Dr. Grill, but that just doesn't work for me!
Right away, I thought of my friend Maria who is 35 weeks along with her daughter Ava, and how she and her family went to an amazing 3D/4D ultrasound facility and have the most beautiful pictures of this baby! They have albums, DVD's, and their families were even able to attend one of the sessions! They liked it so much, that they went twice!
I've already been in contact with her, and I've emailed the facility for more information! I can't wait to hear back from them and hopefully get something scheduled to see our little one! I'll definitely keep my site updated on the progress of all of this...

Having these good reports just makes everything more real to me...and watching my belly pop out over the past week has been so much fun! I'm enjoying every minute of my maternity wardrobe and I'm finally to the point where I want the WORLD TO KNOW that I'm growing a tiny baby inside of me... I just can't imagine anything better than this!