Today was my 22 week appointment with my new OB. I was excited for the appointment because I had some questions for her and because I looking forward to MBL meeting her. We got there early and were called back right on time (woo hoo!!). I was a little bit worried about going with this new OB only because at my last appointment they did not ask for a urine sample...silly thing to be concerned about, I know, but I was reassured by monthly UTI and protein checks. Thankfully right after getting weighed and having my blood pressure taken, the nurse asked me to go leave a sample. We were then left in the exam room for about 10-15 minutes (not bad compared to the 30-45 minute waiting room wait at my old OB). Eventually the OB came in and apologized for making us wait (points for her)! She was so sweet to us and even remembered that she hadn't met my husband at the last appointment, so she introduced herself to him, which I thought was neat. Oh, and she was dressed to the nines...leggings, cute ankle boots, and a mustard yellow sweater dress. Points again for dressing so cute! (Can you tell I'm a fan?)
Today was my first fundus measuring appointment and I was excited to see how I was measuring. Turns out I'm measuring ahead, I was 22w2d today, but I was measuring 23-24 weeks. My uterus is already 2-3 inches above my bellybutton. She then pulled out the doppler and immediately found baby girl's heartbeat galloping away. After a few seconds, however, the heartbeat started fading. At first I thought it was because the doppler was picking up my heartbeat instead, but the OB told me that the baby didn't like me laying on my back. She told me I needed to sit up and that would help the baby's heartbeat go back up to a normal rate. I knew that I needed to avoid sleeping on my back but this showed me that even just a few seconds on it could cause a drop in her HB. SCARY!!! Thankfully I have an awesome pregnancy pillow (my anniversary present from MBL) that keeps me on my sides, but I didn't take staying off my back too seriously until this happened. I will now be propping at least one hip up when I listen to her HB just to be safe!
After the fundus measuring and heartbeat listening, she looked through my file and said everything looked good and that our next appointment would be my glucose test. She was about to get up and get my drink for that when I stopped her because I had some questions. My first one was really more of a concern. I wanted to get her opinion on the exercise thing. Despite my best efforts, I still get a little scared about working out. I'm so afraid that it will cause contractions or my plug to fall out that I still haven't gotten into a good routine (or any routine, really). I told her all of this and her response put her lightyears ahead of my old OB. She said that while exercise is encouraged and safe during pregnancy, after all we went through to get pregnant, it would be completely fine if I took it easy just to ease my mind. She assured me that forgoing intentional workouts would not lead me to have a 12 pound baby and that if taking a break from exercise during this time made me feel better, then that was what was most important. MAJOR points for that!! I wasn't looking for an out from exercise, so her response was spot on. She also assured me that breastfeeding would help me take the weight off after, so as long as I was planning on doing that, long term weight gain from not working out shouldn't be a huge issue.
While we were on the topic of being scared of doing things during pregnancy, I had to bring up a very personal issue. I had to ask her about se.x. MBL has read some of my pregnancy books and is worried that doing the deed will cause placenta previa or placental abruption or my cervix to open (even though none of the books say that se.x causes those things to happen). And I think part of him is scared that it will cause me to spot again. These fears have led to a very long drought in our house and because I didn't want to bring this up at my very first appointment with my new doc, we are on week 8 of abstinence (not fun). I was excited (?) to address these concerns with MBL in the room so that he could hear first hand that having se.x while pregnant is totally fine. She said exactly that and assured him that the placenta is very far from my cervix, so there's no risk of previa and it's long (5.2cm!!), so doing the deed wouldn't cause it to open. (btw, I was hoping my cervix was over 5 and I was so relieved to hear her say that it is VERY long and definitely closed). I'm hoping that, in light of this medical reassurance, the drought will soon end.
I just loved how the doc listened to my questions and then addressed them sensitively. She didn't give 2 sentence answers, instead she took the time to address each one thorougly. I told MBL that I felt so listened to and my old OB NEVER made me feel that way. Basically, I left the appointment brainstorming thank you gifts for her because I know the value in having a good OB and I am so thankful to have found her!!
Oh, and the ultrasound tech wasn't able to get a good picture/measurement of our baby's kidneys (because she was moving around so dang much) so we get another ultrasound!!!! YAY!!!! The OB told us we should schedule it for 4 weeks from now so that the baby won't have as much space to move, but I'm secretly hoping that at that point we'll be able to get some good 3D images!
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