Sweet Music to My Ears

That is how I would simply describe how it felt hearing our little one's clear and strong heartbeat this morning on the Doppler. Sweet music to my (our) ears! And yes, oh yes, it most definitely was!

Oddly enough, after stressing for weeks about what I would encounter on this day going in for my monthly appointment with my OB and an appointment following with a perinatologist for an NT Scan and blood work, I woke up this morning feeling a complete calm over me, my fears had seemed to disappear and I felt strangely at ease and peace over what was to come in the hours ahead of me. Luckily, David was off from work today and was accompanying me to both of my appointments, so I think that in itself had put my mind, heart and soul a little a peace because I knew I would have his instant support no matter what the outcome. Well, unfortunately, before we could even make it out of the door this morning our phone rang and it was the peri.'s (perinatologist) office calling to cancel my appointment for today. Apparently Dr. W's family had experienced some type of tragedy overnight and he was going to be out of the office for the remainder of the week. I immediately was disappointed, but began to become more concerned for him and the safety of his family as my mind started to wonder what might have happened. In that moment, I had to stop and say a little prayer in my head for him and his family for whatever they might be going through. I did have a bit of a meltdown at that point concerned that I wasn't going to see our little one, but I quickly regrouped and we headed on our way to drop Hudson off at my mom's house.

We somehow managed to arrive a few minutes early for my appointment despite the bad traffic going towards downtown and luckily for us, we only waited a few minutes after arriving before I was brought back. Of course, it started with the same-old normal routine, step on the scale and then go pee in a cup. They might as well not even tell me anymore since I am so used to it by now, ha! I was a bit reluctant about stepping on the scale and what scary surprise that might bring, but surprisingly, I don't think I gained any weight since my last appointment. I could be off a little, but I didn't pay close enough attention last time to remember my *exact* weigh-in....this will be changing moving forward though because I want to keep a close eye on their official records on my weight gain so that I can try to keep myself in check. After peeing in a cup like a champion, I was whisked away to meet David in the examination room. Dr. P joined us shortly thereafter and started by asking if I had any concerns or problems, to which I responded no thankfully! She inquired about cramping, bleeding, nausea and luckily, I have had no cramping, no bleeding or spotting and very little nausea this time around and she acted pleased that I was doing so well and feeling so well. She went ahead and told me that she was going to look for the heartbeat with the Doppler and that if she could not find it or had a hard time hearing it then she would give me a quick sonogram, well thankfully, she was able to chase down our little one fairly quickly and we heard a nice, strong little heartbeat that seriously made my face light up! She even commented on how "I was breathing again" and of course I was confused and asked what she meant and she said that she could feel me holding my breath the entire time she was trying to find the baby's heartbeat and once she found it I started breathing again, ha! I didn't really even notice doing it, but I do that a lot when I am nervous so I do not doubt one bit that she was absolutely right! So, the heartbeat was a nice, strong 164 and although I was disappointed not to see baby today, I was still quite relieved to hear the heartbeat again and for it to be so strong.

After the Doppler, we discussed a few questions I had as far as sleeping positions now that my uterus is starting to expand crazily and also I was fairly blunt and asked when I should expect to get the BIG ultrasound, hehe! She giggled and told me that I would likely have it around 18 weeks if not sooner and that I would probably find out the gender from the perinatologist at one of those scans. So, that was good news because I was afraid that I would have to wait until she gave me another sonogram at 20 weeks or something like we had to wait with Hudson. I guess we will still have to wait and see though! Old Wives Tales say that a fast heartbeat = a girl, but I'm playing it safe right now and not getting my hopes up either way. I just want a healthy baby! Dr. P. also mentioned that I had a small cyst in one of my ovaries that showed up on my last sonogram, so she said that would be something we would look at further at one of my next sonograms, but she said it was very small and very common, so she didn't seemed too concerned about it. I truly hope that is the case as I have never had any type of cyst or problem with my female bits, so hopefully I can continue that streak as well. (Secretly, I want to worry and of course have already thought of the worst, especially after Googling, but I have promised myself to pray for healing instead) 

So, that was pretty much it for today, but now I have my NT scan appointment on Monday morning, so just a bit longer before we will see our little blessing once again. Still continuing to pray that all looks as it should and that baby is as healthy as can be! Hopefully, we'll get lots of pics too and I will share some here and possibly, an early gender prediction if we are really lucky!