Today was my 22 week doctor's appointment! It was just a standard appointment, no ultrasound or anything special, so I went by myself. The first thing the nurse did when she called me back was weigh me.....DUM DUM DUM! I had been nervous about this part of the appointment: #1 because I was still in the negatives at my last appointment and I knew that wasn't going to last much longer and #2 I am SO MUCH bigger now than I was then! I was afraid I had gained double digits. Well.....it was CLOSE! I now weigh 6 pounds more than my pre-pregnancy weight (so I gained 7 pounds since my last appointment)! Eek! At first I panicked, but that's what this whole pregnancy thing is about, right? I'm growing a HUMAN, not just eating cheeseburgers! Okay, maybe I'm eating SOME cheeseburgers. ;)
Anyway, once the weighing was complete I left a urine sample and we headed into the exam room for the other usual stuff: blood pressure (normal, 106/78- that's for you Rae) and question-answer time! I love my nurses! I really love my doctor, but my nurses are pretty fantastic too! They don't introduce themselves or wear nametags so I don't know what to call them, but I almost always have the same lady and she's AWESOME! She asked me all the typical questions (any cramping, bleeding, pain, etc.) and I told her everything was normal on my end. Then I proceeded with my crazy list of questions:- What about my weight gain- should I be panicked? Is this normal? She said yes, this is great and everything is normal. (Dr. Schell told me there would be a "catch up" period from where I lost weight in the beginning- she was NOT lying!)
- Hip and lower back pain during the night and in the AM. She again said this was normal and my body was just adjusting to carrying extra weight and a new body shape. She and Dr. Schell both recommended strategic pillow placement and prenatal yoga workout videos to stregthen the muscles in my back. Interesting! I will need to find one of those! :) She also said I could take Tylenol before bed and that might help keep me comfortable enough that I don't wake up in the middle of the night. We'll just see, now it's not so bad that it's worth taking medicine, but maybe I'll change my tune in a few weeks! ;)
- Stretch marks- how do I prevent them? HAHA- most asked question ever apparently! And there is no solution, some people just get them and some people do not. Keeping my fingers crossed on that one, but who really knows. I am still lathering up on that Palmer's lotion though! ;)
- Hot flashes- am I a crazy person? These are very normal during pregnancy due to the increased hormones in my system. Nothing to worry about.
- Brady's pretty active- should I be counting kicks? Probably too early to do this. Even though I do feel him being active most of the time, there are periods of time where his movements are less obvious because he is still so small. Rather than cause me to panic, they usually wait until 28ish weeks to start counting kicks.
- Childbirth classes- when are they offered? When should I take them? When I asked this question the nurse laughed and said "I was just about to get to this". Apparently I'm a mind reader, or an overly anxious patient! Anyway, the nurse informed me that Lexington OBGYN offers childbirth classes one Saturday a month in the waiting room. In the class they cover signs of real labor vs. fake labor, birthing options, breathing techniques, really it's a little bit of everything. She recommended that I plan to attend in January or February, so I'm going to talk to Hays and set that up for us at my next appointment.
An hour and a half later when I finished all my questions (joking- but I'm sure it felt like it to her). She started talking to me about my next visit. I would be 26.5 weeks pregnant and they wanted to do a glucose test. This is the OH-SO-FUN test where you have to drink the super sweet orange stuff and they test your blood an hour later. This checks for gestational diabetes and I REALLY hope I pass it! If I don't pass there is another (much longer) test (involving more yucky orange stuff) that I would have to do. This appointment/glucose test is Decemeber 21st at 10:50AM. Woo Hoo!!! The good news is Hays will get to go to this appointment with me since he is on Christmas break that week. So I will have some moral support in the waiting room as I chug my orange beverage! :)
Then the nurse left and Dr. Schell came in to address any other questions I had. I briefly went through everything had talked about with the nurse and she agreed with everything she had told me. Then we talked about my 30 week appointment (the appointment after next) where we would be doing another ultrasound to check on my placenta. She said that 30 weeks would be a good time to go in and look at everything again, so I went ahead and made that appointment too- January 18th at 1PM with my normal doctor's appointment immediately following. I am looking forward to that appointment #1 because we can find out about this placenta and if it's anything to be concerned with once and for all and #2 so we can see Brady again! Yippee! :)
The last thing Dr. Schell did was my favorite part- she got out the doppler to listen to Brady's heartbeat. She laughed when she put it on my stomach because she could hear him moving around in there- I told you he was active! I told her that he was showing off! She was able to find the heartbeat in no time and it was beating at a beautiful 138 bpm. I just LOVE that sound. She said that everything sounded great!
We had an awesome appointment overall, just another thing to be thankful for! :)
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