For the second ultrasound, we went to the separate ultrasound clinic on what happened to be one somewhat safe driving day sandwiched between a few of the snowiest, iciest days in recent Seattle history.  A couple of days before we had put chains on the car, but they kept breaking and making an awful banging sound.  Luckily the broken parts were too short to get tangled in the wheels.  John ended up taking them off when we got to the parking lot.  We couldn't take the noise anymore

Nevertheless, we made our way to the appointment, albeit a little late, and got to see the baby again.  The ultrasound technician was very friendly.  She also warmed up the goop they put on your stomach and had a monitor already placed at the foot of the table so we could watch what she was doing without straining.  This time it was a lot more baby-looking, and I swear it did a little flip.  We got to see it from all different angles, and the technician accidentally printed out the "face view," which is how we ended up with the Skull Baby picture.  Yes!



We had this ultrasound done as part of some first trimester screening tests.  We got the results 2 weeks later, and they were normal.  Yay!

The practice that I am going to is Seattle Obstetrics & Gynecology Group.  The first OB appointment was December 4.  It was a little strange having John there as I have not had anyone in the room with me at the doctor's since I was about eleven, but of course wouldn't have it any other way.  All first appointments are with the PA-C or ARNP, and she did an incredible job putting us at ease answering all our questions and explaining some upcoming tests.  We got to see the baby and its heartbeat.  It was teeny tiny.  See here:

 

After the first comments on how cute the little one was, we asked if there were two since twins run in my family.  She swooshed around and found only one baby.  Phew!

Once we left the doctor's office, we treated ourselves to some breakfast.  As memorable as the day was, I no longer remember what I ate.  :)

... a baby!  It is due 7/11/09.

See the recent ultrasound picture!

 

I suspected I may be pregnant on Election Day and took a home pregnancy test the next day.  When John found out I had bought those tests on sale, he requested that we go to my doctor to confirm.  Plus, since we were leaving for Central Europe on that Saturday, we needed to know what medicines and foods I could and could not have while travelling.

I managed to get an appointment with my doctor the day before we left, and she confirmed, yes, I was pregnant.  While I was excited, I was a little disappointed that my plans of drinking beer in Berlin, trying absinthe in Prague, and buying rounds of vodka shots in Warsaw evaporated.  But I've never been much of a party girl, so perhaps it was meant to be.