First prenatal appointment
Yesterday I went to my first prenatal checkup. I was 15 minutes late, mainly because I couldn’t get into the car until I stopped throwing up. 
She gave me good news and bad news. Based upon several clues, she agreed that I was probably 2-3 weeks behind what the calendar said. I already strongly suspected this, and have been saying, “I’m 12-14 weeks along.” I had already bumped out my duedate 2 weeks and wasn’t at all surprised when she suggested we ought to bump it out a week farther.
That was the bad news.
The good news was that I goofed. I know how to figure a duedate. It’s easy: start from the first day of your last period and count back 3 months, then add a week. So how did I start with August 31 and end up at July 7 - plus the 2-3 weeks that I was adding? I was telling everyone that I was due in late July. Why didn’t my pregnancy-fogged brain object to the idea of being pregnant for nearly a year?
So the good news is that I’m due in late June, not late July. Anyone who has read our blog for a while knows how much I like to have my babies on holidays and previously claimed birthdays. Now I can aim for The Boy’s birthday on June 28, which also happens to be my mom’s and nephew’s birthday! Or I could rush it a bit and aim for my sister’s birthday on the 25th. Or we could wait until July 4th…or July 6th, another nephew’s birthday…or even July 9th, the birthday of our oldest daughter and my father-in-law.
Oh, more good news: I didn’t pass out when she drew my blood. Yes, it’s true. I, who have given birth at home w/o painkillers 9 times, I who love to quote the Dread Pirate Roberts in “The Princess Bride” Life is pain, Princess. Yes, it’s true. I usually pass out when somebody sticks a needle in me. I tried to donate blood 3 times and the Red Cross finally suggested that maybe I shouldn’t come back. But I didn’t pass out this time. That was good news.
And I heard the baby’s heartbeat. Just for a second or two, since I’m only 11.5 weeks along - but it was a thrill nonetheless. Now I just can’t wait for that first kick. And the second. And the third…these things never get old!
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Filed under: pregnancy/labor
Hurray for the heartbeat! Hopefully your nausea will soon pass!
Congratulations Kim! God is so amazing isn’t He! The miracle of life never grows old.
Okay, I was wondering how you got a positive test just a couple of weeks after me, but were due like a month and a half later! LOL!
Glad you got to hear the heartbeat. That’s always a wonderful sound
Kim, glad that the news is good!!! Hearing that first heartbeat is the best isn’t it!!
Fantastic!
It does ease our minds to hear that first heartbeat, doesn’t it? I know I always cannot wait to hear that heartbeat with each of my babies……
I hope and pray that your morning sickness ends soon.
Love
Leanne in Longview WA
I love hearing the heart beat for the first time. IT is one of the sweetest and best things in life and that and those kicks never ever get old only more precious.
No, you don’t understand. My fear of needles is WHY I have babies at home.
10 lbs babies almost every time.
Ugh…I shudder. I cannot stand needles.
Natalie,
Me too. I only pretend to be brave for the sake of my children. I don’t want to pass my personal phobia to them. And I’m always telling them that courage is doing something even though we’re afraid. So I calmly wait for the needle, privately terrified that I will faint, and feeling very foolish indeed because I know very well that it really doesn’t hurt that much. I feel doubly foolish when I do faint, and then I have to convince them that I’m just a freak of nature and I did *not* faint from the pain of a needle prick.
Really kids, needles aren’t that bad.
I too often pass out when I have blood drawn and came close when I had stitches removed. I think it is called an increased vagal reflex (so named because it involves the vagus nerve). That nerve influences/controls heart rate and blood pressure and getting an iv inserted or blood drawn is one of the common stimuluses (stimuli?) which can result in passing out. I was glad to find this information out because I had felt like such a wuss previously! Knowing that there is actually a reason for passing out beyond fear or pain (and I’m really not afraid of needles or shots) made me feel better. I then found out that one of my grandfathers was unable to serve in WWII because he passed out at the sight of blood as well as when having blood drawn and that several other people in the family had similar reactions. Apparently an increased vagal response has a genetic link, so now I say I come by my wussiness honestly!
How exciting to hear the heartbeat for the first time.
ahhh lets shoot for june 18th my birthday! Ok?
praying for you.
Congratulations! I know that thrill and, you’re right, it never gets old!!
i am so thrilled for you! it never does get old! xoxo
i think its a boy…
Congratulations! I’m so glad to hear you say that it’s still just as exciting, and I believe you. Even though I’ve only had 3, it really does get more and more precious because you now know more of what’s to come from this precious life.
I guess it’s kinda like when you have your first baby and worry that you’ll never be able to love another child as much—HA!
Now, stop barfing, will ya? You’re supposed to be the one that encourages the rest of us in the fact that it gets better each time around. Not so, eh?
Your new due date makes SO much more sense. And how exciting - you get to meet your new baby that much sooner! As for the nausea, I’ll pray for you. I finally stopped throwing up all day every day at 13 weeks. Then it was mornings only for 2 weeks, and now at 18 weeks, only gagging every now and then. Oh what fun! But you’re right, it makes for an interesting weight loss plan!
Stephanie, dear, you obviously didn’t know me during my first 5 pregnancies. Trust me. My morning sickness has gotten *so* much better! I’m only down by 4 lbs. instead of 12-15, and usually throwing up less than 10 times/day instead of 40 or more.
This is the good stuff. Those early pregnancies - they were unpleasant. Worth every moment, but not fun.
The first sounds of the heartbeat always make me cry and laugh at the same time. Congratulations! Still praying that the nausea will subside soon for you. Blessings!
I am so glad that I am not the only one who doesn’t like blood draws. I have had 6 babies, with varying amounts of pain killers. Some natural and some not. Princess Bride is a fave around here, not to seem pretentious, but it is, Life is pain, Highness.
Yeah! We’re so excited for you ~ hearing the heartbeat ~ not the 15 minutes of pre-trip vomiting : ) Oh, how I can relate to it! Did the whole wheat bread help? If so, I can get you some more!
Delaney’s birthday is July 1st, so if friend’s birthdays count, there’s another one you can add to your list. If we give you enough dates to shoot for, you can’t go wrong, can you?
And, I just wanted to let you know that your RSS Feed WORKED this morning! Was your cheer the noise I heard?
So, how long before your all day sickness ends?
In Him,
Laralee
http://www.PlymouthRockRanch.com
Recording the Faithfulness and Provision of God for Future Generations
im not quite a regular reader, only stopping by a few times a yr. - sorry
and this subject is so close to my heart because ive struggled so much with it during my pregnancies (sounds like you have too only i dont think i take it as well as you as im NOT functional during those months . i wanted to throw out my own experiences with morning sickness and maybe someone out there will find a bit of relief?
i should say ive tried almost every remedy out there and none ever seemed to help. i was always down weight until the 6 month mark and like you vomited many times every day.
im pregnant now with #7 and this time through the valley of the shadow of death as ive phrased it was “tolerable” which is odd since id only been getting progressively worse with each pregnancy and number 6 it was only Zofran that stopped the every 15 minute vomiting. still nauseous for months on end but only vomiting in the early morning. between #6 and #7 i remembered a comment from a mom of 10 whod been pretty sick and what helped her. shed done a liver/gallbladder cleanse between 5 and 6 and was never as sick agian. (shed only done one) so i was determined to try before i got pregnant agian in hopes of seeing some relief.
through reading about the cleanses it seemed to “fit” that if your liver/gallbladder is filled with stones and years of “sludge” it has a pretty hard time handling all the extra hormones and TOXINS its supposed to filter out of your body during pregnancy. pregnancy puts these organs on overtime duty . the articles aslo said if youve never done a cleanse before (as an average adult) youd need to do a total of 10-15 to be really “cleaned” out and passing upwards of 2000 (yes thousand!) stones. ive also read accounts of mothers who ended up in the hospital for months for severe morning sickness and that their liver enzymes were “wacked” out .hmmmm .. i thought.
after such misreable pregnancies i was really motivated to try ANYTHING !
!!
i had a personal goal to do one cleanse a month for 12 months before getting pregnant again. i ended up getting 3 cleanses in and passed HUNDREDS of stones with each one. would it make a difference? didnt know but if all those stones were in there that just couldnt be HELPING i thought!
i got pregnant– cried my eyes out cause i was SOOO petrified of getting sick agian and i plain just wasnt done with with my cleanses
i really have to throw out there that it was NEVER the lack of want for another child— it was the months of debilitating illness that i so feared and i dont scare easily with other things in life in general (well not counting the dentist!) but shots,ivs and home births were a piece of cake compared to the morning sickness!)
anyway– along with the 3 cleanses, as soon as i found i was pregnant i started taking very hard to find SUBLINGUAL vit-b-6 (luckyvitamin.com). i took 200 mg a day— one under my tonge about ever two hours and shonda parkers recommendation of milk thistle (which is a liver support herb). (technically she suggests starting 3 months BEFORE you get pregnant but i didnt come across her info till the week i found out i was pregnant.) i got the gags real bad and couldnt then get down the milk thistle after a feww weeks but still continued on with the sublingual vit-b-6.
id say my morning sickness was reduced by 50%. and it was shorter than ever (from 8 weeks to 13) since mine usually would drag on into the 26 week zone or so.
was it the cleanses? i dont really know but after this pregnancy ill definetly cram some more in there. on a side note i had burning shoulder pain that started in the last pregnacy and which the chiropractor could never touch as far as relieving the pain. id read later that could be a sign of gall stones. after the 3rd cleanse (the pain stayed and has been there for the last 2 1/2 yrs.) it disappeared !
maybe other moms out there would want to try–id certainly be interested to see if anyone else sees improvement !
the cleanses are the kind with apple juice fast, then a few doses of epsom salts with grapefruit and then olive oil mixed with grapefruit –all over the course of one day and then stones appearing the next day along with a day or two of diahreah(sp?). not really my idea of “fun” but so worth the trade of months of vomiting ! you can find the cleanse doing a search at curezone.com .
sorry this has been long —hope this helps some other moms out there really wanting another child but desparing over that very dark valley of ms . this gave me some HOPE which i truly needed and had fervently prayed for along with COURAGE to do it agian!
take care and if the morning sickness gets too bad during this pregnancy (to the point of dehydration and hospitalization ) maybe try zofran— if you have insurance (ondansetron is the generic) . its extremely expensive (32$ a pill for generic and over 40 for the brand name) .it also will NOT make you drowsy–oh so important when you have bunches of children who need a mother ! its a class “B” drug -same as tylenol and better than class “c” ones like reglan and phenergan since those pose more risk. i hated resorting to that in # 6 but it was either that or the hospital.
Do B-complex vitamins help?
egoldstein,
B-complex works for a lot of people, but never seem to help me - even when I am able to start on them before the morning sickness sets in.
ok Kelly when you said you passed hundreds of stones, how do you know do you feel them? Does it hurt?
I LOVE the first time hearing the heartbeat! So great.
I am sitting here enjoying some of your wonderful pumpkin roll. Yummy! Chance brought it home from VF and we night owls are the happy recipients.
Mj,
From what I have read on the site she mentioned, the stones pass through your bowels. So Depending on the actual sixe (which varies) it could ne painful. This is what the site says to look for:
Look for the green kind since this is proof that they are genuine gallstones, not food residue. Only bile from the liver is pea green. The bowel movement sinks but gallstones float because of the cholesterol inside.
Apparently the day after the cleanse you have diareah so the stones are seen easily I would imagine. Hope that clears it up a bit.
I agree with you on the fear thing. My mom(she had 7 of us) was always saying stuff about the needles. I believe she actually taught me to fear in many ways. This is something I struggle with every day of my life.
*sigh*
I will be a better example though.
And I know it doesn’t really hurt.
In fact I actually transferred to the hospital with this last birth(my fourth baby, labored for 4 days at 6 cm, was having panic attacks, no sleep, long story) and I couldn’t wait for them to stick me with a needle as long as the excruciating pain would be gone!
Wow, I’ve really come a long way.
Thank you, Lord.
answer to mj’s question—
(paraphrased) –how do you know you pass the stones and does it hurt?
you know you pass the stones by looking in the potty
youll see bunches and bunches of emerald green floating mishappen balls from rice size to quarter size. youd also be having alot of diahreah and so youd also “feel” anything “solid” that came along with it.
did it hurt? absolutely not - i was a bit worried about that going into it but still desperate to try and find SOME small clue –something i could maybe fix! the stones themselves are not rock hard nor are they really soft —-kinda in between. the epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) prevent any cramping as your body gets rid of them because its a muscle relaxant . ive seen cleanses without the salts and im not sure id want to try it without. the only thing i felt was some general weekness that first morning after taking the oli the night before and some mild nausea on the third cleanse the morning after the oil. (i was very early pregnant and didnt know yet so im thinking maybe that was the reason for the nausea). the next day though i felt REALLY good and had alot of energy . i really was amazed at seeing all the stones -its exactly how its described on that site and it really motivated me to get in as many as i could.
hope these answers were helpful and not TMI (too much information) .
I appreciate that you don’t seem to complain about your morning sickness. I have a “friend” who is pregnant with #11. She calls me (who is barren) to complain about her pregnancies. I think that people think I am made of stone. You are blessed Kim. May the Lord see you through this one too!!!
Congrats on hearing that precious heartbeat. It gives me goosebumps when I hear about things like that. I’m so excited for you! (It’s giving me baby fever reading about so many expecting mommies!) Glad to hear the due date is closer than you thought, that’s always great news! Less wait to see that new blessing!!
Congratulations
“These things never get old” - how true!