Thursday, September 18, 2008

16 Weeks down...

So I had another doctor appointment today. I met a brand new doctor who I will not be returning to at least until after the baby is born, since my next appointment will be with the Japanese doctor. But my previous doctor has moved on to someplace new (actually, she was at the medical building today, I saw her, but just packing herself out to move), so that's just how it worked out. This new guy was just fine, too. He checked up on my chart, made sure my blood pressure wasn't sky rocketing or anything and then pulled out the doppler thing to check on the baby. No ultrasound, so we still don't know if it's a boy or a girl, sorry. At 20 weeks, I'm told my Japanese doctor should be able to tell me.
Baby is now hanging out between my belly button and my pelvic bone, for those of you who like to follow those things. As it turns out, Baby is a morning person (that or very very shy). The poor doctor had to chase it down to hear its heartbeat for more than a second or two at a time. I swear the kid was doing laps or something. The doctor assured me that it would be much easier in a few more weeks because the doctor would be able to feel where the baby was and just plunk the dopler over the heart. In the mean time, I allowed myself to be entertained by this guy's determination to get a solid heartbeat. His persistance paid off, and finally he got it so that we could hear the heartbeat over my own. Pretty cool, I gotta say. :-)
So we are again proclaimed healthy and good to go. I'm supposed to try to stop feeling sick soon and may be eat a little more, since I'm not gaining weight yet (despite the inability to fit into any of my clothes anymore). I'm also told that I shouldn't worry if I don't feel any movement until week 20 (despite everyone here asking me if I've felt it yet). Now that I know more or less where the baby is, I think I'll have a better idea of what is my digestive system and what is the baby, so that should help at least.
So now my new doctor will write up a referal to the Japanese doctor. Then, I'm told, I'll get a call from a nurse who arranges all the "out in town" births, and we'll set up an appointment with that doctor. My new doctor both suggested that I call him if I haven't heard from this nurse in about a week and that I should go ahead and make a 20 week appointment on base "just in case". So now we return to our regularly scheduled program of teaching, studying and eating lots and lots of frozen peaches.

1 comment:

erica said...

Ahh, the heartbeat. It's the best. =) I think I felt Kent around 18 or 19 weeks, when suddenly one morning I was like, "Okay, there's no WAY that was gas! That was my BABY!"