Jumping Bean

I had my first real prenatal appointment this afternoon. Pelvic exam and all that. Blech. My blood pressure was still higher than I’d like, so I need to get back into exercising. At least the morning sickness has abated quite a bit now, so it shouldn’t be so impossible.

They couldn’t get the baby’s heartbeat on the doppler, which of course terrified me. It’s hard to acknowledge that there’s really a person growing in my body since there’s no real outward sign… or inward sign for that matter. I can’t feel it. Fortunately, they busted out the ultrasound machine and discovered that the reason they couldn’t get the heartbeat on the doppler is because the baby is doing Zumba in there. All over the place. They couldn’t get a very good picture because the second she struck a pose for the camera, she bounced away again. She was sucking her thumb at one point. And the heartbeat was very strong on the ultrasound. So major relief.

Don’t go thinking that I’m saying "she" with any kind of certainty. One, it annoys Alan. LOL… he’s still convinced it’s a boy. And according the old wives’ tales, a heartbeat over 140 means a girl. And my little jumping bean’s heart rate was in the 150’s and 160’s. Alan will be so upset. He says if it’s a girl he’ll have to buy a shotgun. Hmmm….

Anyway, all else is well and I’m healthy. I’m not a carrier for cystic fibrosis, yay. Alan and I have the same blood type and we’re both Rh positive, yay. I don’t have any signs of gestational diabetes, yay. I do have to schedule a nuchal translucency screening for sometime in the next couple weeks. But I want to talk to Alan first to see if he can come with me. It’s just a first screening for Downs’ Syndrome, mostly because my second cousin has it. The midwife said it wasn’t likely that I would have any signs since no one else in the family has it, including Joy’s younger sister Katie. Still, it’s best to be sure, right? And it’ll give us a better ultrasound picture than the ones we have so far since the equipment has to be better.

So for now, the baby is Jumping Bean.

Alan is working really late tonight, but Lt. Brand has offered to drive him home so that I don’t have to be up that late. Wonderful Steel. I figure it’s because his own wife is pregnant now too. That makes three of us in the S2 shop. Kelly first, then me, then Mrs. Brand, whose name I can’t remember. LOL.

And now it’s time for tea.