The power of a heartbeat

I had my 14 week check-up with the obstetrician today. I laid there nervously as he put the doppler on my tummy trying to find Sticky’s heartbeart. Suddenly, we could hear it thumping away and I instantly felt all of my anxiety melt away.

As I got on the table, Dr T asked me to pull my pants down. He took one look at my stomach and declared “You’re already starting to show. That’s your uterus poking out there.” This was not news to me, but it was interesting to know what internal bits were where. He told me the hard section I had been feeling on the left side of my abdomen for several weeks now was my round ligament. This was the side that had been giving me all the pain.

It was amazing to see how deft he was at finding the heartbeat. It was just above my pubic bone so now when I rub my tummy there, I know Sticky’s heart is lying just beneath the surface. No doubt the location will change by the next scan, but it’s nice to know it’s there for the next few weeks at least.

Dr T told me that Sticky would be moving around a lot now and I told him we had seen all the dancing at the scan. He reassured me that I wouldn’t feel any movements until at least 18 weeks and I realised that’s only 3 weeks away. I hope Sticky gives me a swift kick right on schedule, early would be fine too!

So all up, I’m a stellar pupil. I have finally put on some weight – only 1.5 kilos so that’s good. Although I have felt a significant drop in my appetite in the past week so I’m going to have to get myself out of the habit of eating so much. Dr T was thrilled with the 12 week scan results so said we didn’t need any more tests. All is looking rosy so we’ll go back in 4 weeks and we just keep plodding along until then. However, I now have to book into the hospital and for our ante-natal classes before the end of the week. For the first time, I feel excited about that.

Actually, for the first time, I feel excited about everything. I didn’t realise I was holding my breath while he found the heartbeat until I let out a massive sigh when he heard it. I had been nervous about this scan but now I know everything is ok, I can finally let go. I feel like everything else is really up to Sticky and just choose to believe everything will be ok.

As a result, I gratefully accepted 3 boxes of clothes and a bassinette from a friend yesterday. I was so touched by her amazing generosity, mind you, it helped her out because she’s about to move house so it’s less stuff she has to take. But still, I was touched she thought of me.

All the clothes were sizes 0000 and 000 so I now have both a girl’s and a boy’s wardrobe so I’m covered either way. I have so many clothes that I don’t see how the baby would possible wear them all but I also expect I’ve forgotten how many clothes babies can go through. Now, I just have to make sure I tell people that if they want to buy me clothes, it can only be 00 or above! Actually, I might just tell people to buy me books!

As soon as I got the bassinette home, I stripped it down and washed the covers. Tonight, I will go home and put it all back together. It will be my first official piece of baby furniture. Up until now, I felt nervous about having anything too baby-related where I could see it. All the clothes and gifts I’d been given so far have all been packed away out of site. After today, I’m finally ready to have my baby paraphernalia on display. Actually, I’m quite looking forward to walking past the nursery and seeing it. I might even practice tucking one of my Cabbage Patch Kids into it!