Our first ultrasound was today. It went by so fast. And there was so much information! Here is what it was like.
A Dark Room
First, we started in a light room. The waiting area. My spouse went with me and he waited for me to fill out paperwork asking questions about my pregnancy history and family medical history. Then they called us back. We entered a room that was initially also bright, and I sat on a table. I kept my clothes on and she asked me to lift my shirt and pull down my leggings a little. Then she turned off the lights and sprayed the ultrasound goo on me.
I was not expecting the gel to be warm! I jumped a little because of it. For some reason I was expecting it to be cold. Now before we went to the appointment, I had read that I needed to fill my bladder up because I was going to have to pee in a cup. Not true. So as she started pressing down with the thingy that looks inside your uterus, she pointed out my very full bladder that she could see on the machine and apologized. After a second of rooting around, there they were! They were a tiny grey spot, and you could see a tiny moving speck that was their heartbeat!
That is what I was so afraid of, not seeing a heartbeat. And poof, out those fears went with this tiny fluttering speck on a big screen. She told us our initial estimate was wrong, that we were actually 7 weeks, 2 days pregnant. So if you read my earlier posts, just know the weeks are a little off. She was able to tell us this by looking at a grey blob and measuring them. They came in at 1.13 cm, and their heartrate was 148 bpm, which is apparently perfect. So now we know, we so far have a healthy human, and one human, which is what we want! And we got pictures with a promise that next time at around 12 weeks, we would be able to see a lot more.
Another Appointment
So the ultrasound and follow up appointments are back to back. They don’t really go over anything with you in the ultrasound other than to point out what you are seeing and to say everything looks ok. The follow up appointment is for everything else. So we went back out to the waiting area, and then a different person called us back and took us to a different room. She was a nurse and she took my vitals and weight, 148.8 lbs, and said everything looks great. I had seen that nurse before for the same thing my previous visit.
Next a doctor presenting as male came in. I had never seen him before in my life. Obviously men are qualified to study pregnancy, and some people who do not identify as women can get pregnant. But for me, for some reason, a person presenting as male telling me how my pregnancy was going to go just felt wrong. He was very nice and patient, and he told me my doctor, who presents as female, would be in right after. He asked if I had any questions and I asked if I could wait to ask them to my doctor, he said that was no problem.
My doctor came in after a bit, and she gave me a lot of helpful advice. I had written down a list of questions, because I don’t remember anything I wanted to ask if I don’t, and she answered most of them before I had the chance to read them. Then another nurse came in and reviewed the information and gave us a bag full of more information and an order for bloodwork. We then went to another office to get that completed, and an hour and a half later we were done.
My Questions And Their Answers
Before you are like, how did you think of all these questions? I stole some of them. I ordered the Bloom Pregnancy Planner. (Again not opposed to a sponsorship here.) A lot of the questions I asked are recommended by this planner, and yes, it is the same one where I cried over the video ad for no reason ’cause hormones people.
Q: How should I maintain my weight during Pregnancy?
A: Whatever I was doing before pregnancy, add 300 calories. So if to maintain weight I was at 2000 cal/day, now I should consume 2300 throughout the entire pregnancy. Eating for two is a myth (something I am glad my spouse heard.) For my BMI, I should aim to gain 20-25lbs throughout my pregnancy. Bigger is better than smaller.
Q: Do I need to do anything specific for my thyroid other than take medications?
A: Nope, just the medication is perfect.
Q: Are there any over-the-counter medications I should avoid?
A: Basically all of them. Tylenol and Tums are ok, as are B6 and Unisom for nausea.
Q: I am taking Nature Made prenatal vitamins, are they ok (I brought the bottle with me)?
A: Yes. As long as they have enough folic acid, and it looks like they have twice as much as the recommendation.
Q: What types of screenings do I need?
A: They went over this before my question, there will be one that determines chromosomes both for sex determination (which we don’t care about outside of the differences in diaper changing routines), and it will show if they have chromosomal divergencies like down syndrome. That won’t be for another 4 weeks. Another will determine if I have passive genes for any potential medical issues, and if so, they will test my spouse so they know if he is also positive as a carrier, our child has a greater risk of something. The last one will see if they have any issues like spina bifida. (I don’t know what that is.)
Q: Is walking the dogs ok and doing Apple Fitness + strength training designed for pregnant people?
A: Yes. Just stop if you feel light headed, and don’t start a new exercise you wouldn’t have done before being pregnant. So the women who run a marathon when they are pregnant, are ok to do it because they were marathon runners before they got pregnant.
Q: Is there an associated hospital for delivery?
A: Yup, same building.
Q: Is there an associated pediatrician?
A: Not here, but they gave us some recommendations in our packet.
Q: I play trumpet, is there any time I should stop?
A: No, this should be perfectly fine.
Q: Can we go to our usual metal concerts?
A: Yes, just avoid the mosh pit.
Q: Can I have alcohol?
A: The technical answer is no, though in Europe there have been some retroactive studies that show a glass of alcohol or two a week is fine, but they don’t drink alcohol like we do. A half a glass of wine every once in a while starting your second trimester is fine.
Q: When is a good time to call for questions? Is messaging better?
A: Anytime during our business hours is fine, though if you call outside those hours, there will always be a physician on call. Messaging is perfectly fine (I seem to get better results this way). If it is an emergency, it is better to call.
Q: Do you have questions?
A: We know you do, leave them in the comments below!