At that point, Zack wasn't there because the nurse had told me all we were going to do was exams and tests and that's it and that Dr. Lavengood didn't do ultrasounds until later. So he asked me where my husband was and I told him he's at home on stand-by in case we did anything cool, and he told me to call him and tell him to come over and when he got here we'd try to hear the heartbeat and then go take a peek with an ultrasound. That was awesome because that's all I wanted! I just wanted/needed to see it. Like I said, it's totally weird to know there's a small human inside you and not being able to really tell.
So when Zack got there and we had finished all my exams and poking and prodding, then we went to another room where the office keeps their small ultrasound machine. It was so cool. I was only 10 weeks and we could see little leg buds and arm buds and the head and even the umbilical cord. The baby was really moving too. It rolled away from us a toward us and wiggled it's arms and legs. I won't forget it. I posted pictures on Facebook but here's one of them! This one's probably my favorite just because you can see the shape a little. The baby's head is on the right.
And at 10 weeks we couldn't hear the heartbeat yet because it turns out my uterus is tipped back slightly (which is totally normal) so the baby was sitting too far away to hear it. So I went back 3 weeks later on December 22nd at 13 weeks just so we can try to hear the heartbeat and as soon as he put the machine on me (I don't know what it's called, but it basically looks like a microphone connected to a walkman) we heard "wooshwooshwooshwooshwoosh". That was pretty neat. He said the baby's heartbeat is 162bpm and that once we're able to hear the heart chance of miscarriage is less than 2%. I was never too worried about miscarrying but I know it happens a lot and it's nice to have some of that worry off my shoulders. We found out sooooo early, but currently we're 14 weeks and going strong.
I have another appointment in 3 weeks as follow-up and then the next appointment is when we should be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl. So it should be right around the first of February, I think.
Oh, and am I getting any bigger? My friends and family can attest that I don't look any bigger but if you run your hand from one hip bone to the other you can feel a definite curving in my lower abdomen. And my pants and jeans are definitely tighter and sometimes when no one's looking I'll unbutton them. And where some tops made me look slim I now look like maybe I've been going a little crazy with the Holiday food (which I haven't, I swear.) I'm thirsty all the time and I need to eat every 2 or 3 hours or so because I can't eat a lot of food but I need to eat all the time. I feel like all I do some days is eat and pee all day long, to a point where it's seriously a chore to do either. But, all in all I feel lucky and blessed that it's been so easy so far. And Zack's great and awesome and supportive. I couldn't imagine not having the support and love he gives to me. I guess life is a series of adventures, and this one's of the most exciting ones so far!
