June 24

On June 24, 2009, we went to our first prenatal appointment. I was nervous and excited. I was keeping positive, but I still worried that about that the doctor would find something wrong. These are the times when I regret researching everything to exhaustion. Turns out, I had nothing to worry about except the heat that day.

As soon as my doctor walked in the door, she said, "That was fast." I had just had my annual in April--when I told her that Matt and I were trying to get pregnant. After going over my ob patient forms, my doctor had me lay down for a pelvic exam and ultrasound. Technology is pretty darn amazing. I'd read about women getting to see their babies on ultrasound as early as 8 weeks, but I really had no idea what was necessary. The device she used is a wand that is inserted into the vagina. I'm assuming that an external device might not be able to get an image that early into pregnancy. I may be wrong.

The discomfort of the ultrasound disappeared when I saw the round, little shapes of our baby. Wow! The experience was really amazing. Matt was able to see the heartbeat. I was even more excited about that.

At the end of the appointment, I needed to give blood for lab work. Remember my mention of the heat? We were standing at the appointment counter, scheduling the next appointment and I began to feel shaky and lightheaded. By the time, I sat down to have blood drawn, I was nearly in tears. The nurse asked if I was okay and I kept saying, "Yes, I'll be fine in a moment." About the third time she asked, she answered herself and said, "No, you're not fine."

She had me rest in another room. She put a wet paper towel on my forehead and Matt brought me cold water to drink. I was fine in a few minutes, but it was a lesson that I would have to be more careful with my body in this summer heat.

Based off the date of my last period AND the length of our little one on the ultrasound image, I was 7 weeks and 5 days along.