Thursday, February 5, 2009

19 week checkup

I went to the doctor today for my monthly pre-natal checkup.  I can't believe I will be 20 weeks preggo tomorrow!!  OMG...where has the time gone??  I am half-way gestationally (is that a word?) but we are nowhere near prepared for this baby to arrive.  Thankfully, God gives us 40 weeks to prepare....and boy, are we going to need every single day!!

Anyways, my appointment went relatively well today.  Because I am using a OB/GYN practice that has seven doctors, I have to see all of them over the nine months of my pregnancy. I have a "primary" doctor who I saw for my first two appointments & will see for all of my appointments towards the end.  She also will, hopefully, be able to deliver our bundle of joy.  But, because it is a multi-doctor practice, I need to familiarize myself with all of the doctors just in case my primary doc is not available at the time of the birth (I really hope that isn't the case because I LOVE her!!)

Today I saw Dr. Arnold, one of the docs that I had not seen before.  He was nice enough, but he wasn't as "warm & fuzzy" as the other three doctors that I have seen.  Maybe I have unrealistic expectations, but I like it when the doctors act like they are as excited about my pregnancy - and all that goes with it - as I am.  Dr. Arnold was content with giving me the information I needed to know and letting me be on my way.

He did tell me though that everything looked good, although my blood pressure was up a bit from where it usually is.  It is usually around 110-120/80 and today it was 130/80.  The nurse even took it twice, just to be sure.  He said that he wasn't overly concerned at this point but that it was something that they would be monitoring at my next appointment.  

He didn't mention anything about my weight, which made my happy.  I have only gained 7.5 lbs in my first 20 weeks, which is good.  But, also, because I started off overweight, I should only be gaining 15-20 lbs throughout my entire pregnancy (no doctor has ever told me this, but that is what I have read in all of the pregnancy books & websites).  Unfortunately, this means that I only have 8-10 lbs left to gain. Uh-oh. I better stop eating those cookies & candy and get back on track with my eating!

The best part of these pre-natal appointments, in my opinion, is when I get to hear the baby's heartbeat.  Like I have said before, I sort of hold my breath while the doctor is moving the monitor around on my belly in search of the heartbeat.  And, then when the whoosh-whoosh-whoosh sound appears, I am overjoyed!  Today, the baby's heart rate was 141.  This is the same as it was two weeks ago when I was there.  Thankfully, he said that the heartbeat sounded strong and everything seems to be right on track.

In 11 days, on February 16th, we have our BIG ultrasound to find out the gender!  I am sooooo excited about that appointment and can't wait for it to get here.  We will keep everyone informed so stay tuned......

2 comments:

Kristen said...

Congratulations, Kirsten!! I loved doctors appointments, too, because I loved hearing Abby's heartbeat. Wait until you can feel (and see) the baby kicking; it's so amazing! :-)

Anonymous said...

Make sure you drink a big glass of orange juice or some pepsi before your appointment on the 16th so the little one is moving around, that is if you even like OJ now a days :) This worked for Jason and Stacey :) Miss you xoxoxo