First Dr. visit!

I had ants in my pants waiting for Jan. 13. I set up the appt. the day I found out I was pregnant, and I was so anxious and nervous to see my doctor. Chance met me from work in the morning, and I did the requisite height/weight/blood pressure, then the excruciating wait for the doctor. I had this irrational thought that we were having twins, coupled with the general excitement just to see the ultrasound, and I was quite jittery and emotional.

Finally, I got on the table, and Chance held my hand, and we had the ultrasound. Dr. Micus was checking everything out first before she showed us, and she said, "OK, there's one... and {cue Chance and I SQUEEZING hands}... OK just one!" {deep breath exhale} Obviously, if you have twins or multiples, you love your children and feel so blessed to have more than one, but in the immediate moment, it's a little terrifying.

She finally turned the screen to show us the bean, and we got to see the flicker of the heartbeat. Let me tell you, there is no greater moment I have experienced thus far that can compare to that one right there. I was so overwhelmed with emotion--thankfulness, wonder, awe, love, amazement, bewilderment, joy. It was THE coolest thing ever. Chance and I were in tears; we cried and cried and hugged and felt so amazing. And the best news--Dr. Micus said that once you see the heartbeat moving, chances of miscarriage are less than 2%. Of course, I'll be less worried when I make it to that 12-week mark, but what encouragement and relief to know those good odds.

The doctor told me that the baby was measuring younger than we'd thought, and that I was actually 5w6d (on Jan. 13) instead of 7w1d like I'd thought. This changed my due date to Sept. 8, 2012. Now, I'm a little skeptical, because I KNOW all my important dates--LMP, possible conception, etc., so I think it's still possible that Aug. 30 is more accurate. I guess future visits and ultrasounds may change the measurements/dates, and I may just never know the exact date. Welcome to my new life of no firm plans, right? :)

We got to talk to the doctor about all our questions--she said, "Ask me whatever you want, but keep in mind I have a patient in active labor next door and may get paged any second." That'll be me on the other end of things in a few months! She told me I could have caffeine (!!!) and as much Tylenol as is normally prescribed. I had seriously been missing my morning cup of black tea and a Diet Coke in the afternoon. I will probably still hold off on DC until 13 weeks, because I know I need to drink more water, and that's an easy swap. But my favorite vanilla almond black tea with coconut creamer and sugar in the raw? Bring. It. On. (Back.)

After we chatted with the doctor, we went to do lab work--pee in a cup, draw blood, etc. I'm going to have lots of regular thyroid tests and other things. I have the tiniest veins ever, so it took her a while to stab me, and then she had to keep wiggling the needle with each new vial to test. (Funny story: Chance was wearing scrubs for a bank promotion, and he had fun jokingly introducing himself as "Dr. Chance Connell". He told the lab nurse I had tiny veins, and she asked him if he'd rather stick me instead. I quickly said no and explained his outfit, haha.)

I made a slew of other appointments (phone chats with the office nurse, next U/S where we'll hear the heartbeat in February), and then we called our parents and texted pics of the ultrasound. It's the first picture of our baby, and it's just awesome. I went back to school on Cloud 9, feeling like it was going to be tougher than ever to keep on keeping the secret.

We had plans to go to Irving that night so that we could tell my grandparents.

Here is our Sweet Pea!