Bye Bye, First Trimester!

Today is very exciting for me because it is my last day in the first trimester, and it was time for my second prenatal appointment. The appointment was simple and quick today. I discovered all my results from the blood tests they did, and also got to hear the baby's heartbeat again!!

Everything was wonderful. My blood pressure is excellent 118/66 (was 118/80 before I think, the nurse said everyone's tends to go down after the first appointment). Everything about my blood was completely normal: blood cell count was good, no antibodies, still immune to things I should be, I don't carry the gene for cystic fibrosis, no anemia (a concern in pregnancy because the baby draws iron from the mother's blood to form their own), thyroid is normal. I have only gained 2 pounds so far (the doctor joked "Your girlfriends will hate you for that."). This matches the average I noticed when I have been weighing myself in the morning. I was thankfully my weight started out on the low end for me pre-pregnancy, in the 130's (still thanks to that marathon I did in June). I was almost surprised I didn't gain more with all I have been eating though, I always have a hearty appetite! The second trimester is where weight gain starts to occur, along with the growing.

The Dr. felt my uterus and said, "It's already all the way up here" and pointed it out. This confirmed what I have been feeling. I noticed it has risen at least an inch since I first felt it. He said the newbies like me always have hard time because it takes so long before we start showing. Finally, I got to hear that wonderful sweet sound, my baby's heartbeat. Again, the doctor found it pretty quickly. This time it was around 150 (the doppler shows the heart rate so that is how they know...I wondered that before). He said the heartbeat doesn't really start slow down until halfway through the pregnancy around week 20. He also said I probably heard that a faster heart rate equals a girl and slower equals a boy. He said generally though, that is not true. Just from pregnant women I know, I also see this to be the case. Some baby girls and boys fit that saying, but many others do not. All that is clear is there is no clear tell tale sign about gender before the birth, unless you try to see the "goods" at an ultrasound (even then, every now and then they make the wrong call!).

Finally, I mentioned my company's trip to Washington DC in mid-October. He agrees, that is too late for comfort. He said if I was just 35 or 36 weeks he'd say sure, but by 37.5 if my water breaks they wouldn't let me even come home. I just don't even want to risk anything like that. Again, another thwarted chance to go to DC! Maybe one of these days I'll finally get there.

So, I'm just feeling happy and blessed all is going so well. I'm so thankful and continue to pray all will continue to go along smoothly and normally. In the meantime, I'm going to keep doing all I can to be healthy and take good care of my body. One thing I'll have to do soon is one of my least favorite task of bra shopping :-P. My lighter colored one I could wear with almost everything no longer fits correctly anymore.