Heartbeats

Today we had our first official prenatal visit. We chose to get care through Swedish Ballard's Midwifery clinic, and after today's visit, I think I can safely say that I'm going to be very, very happy with my choice. The student CNW and the CNW that we saw were both wonderful, kind, empathetic people who made both of us very comfortable and we weren't afraid to ask questions or be open about concerns.

Neither of us knew what to expect from the visit-- I'd heard different things from different women, but everyone is a special snowflake and you never know what you'll get. I had my blood drawn for complete workups, I peed in a cup (they test for protein in urine to make sure my kidneys are functioning), and they did a physical exam to make sure everything was progressing as normal. I'd heard that they might be able to hear the heartbeat on the first appointment, and we asked the CNW about it. They did a Doppler scan, which is the surface wand thing (obviously, I'm not a technical expert). We were told that it was unlikely but possible.

We got very, very lucky and were able to hear it! It was a quiet fluttery thing but it's there, and now everything finally feels real. The constant desire for naps, the sudden distaste for meat (or almost any other food except for Babybel cheese), the aches and pains all feel like they're pointing towards a goal instead of just, you know, making studying and focusing on grad school that much harder.

Speaking of graduate school, it's progressing, both too slowly and too fast. I'll be thankful when this quarter is over and I can take next quarter's classes (specifically, Young Adult Materials: Evaluation and Use). As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I spoke with my adviser (Marie is amaaaazing!), who was very sympathetic and understanding and suggested that for spring quarter, I take only online classes in case I need to do bed rest. I'm also due during finals week (because I like to make things difficult!), so I'll need to e-mail my profs and ask about possibly taking Incompletes until I can finish the remainder of the work over the summer.

In conclusion, I'm going to be using this space for the extended updates on the pregnancy and our family so that I don't clog everyone's Facebook feeds with crazy pregnancy/mommyblogging.