April: Sonograms And No Showering

Then the big day! Tuesday, April 3rd was our next baby appointment and we got to have a sonogram! I’m not sure I’ve ever had to tt so bad in my whole life. I’d heard that you get a better picture of the baby if your bladder is full so I acted like a camel and just held it for days…or what seemed like days because when you are pregnant you hit up the potty every 45 minutes or so. It was show time and as Chip and I walked down the hall with the tech I felt the need to tell her how important it was that we see the baby’s face, our son has a cleft and I need to know to prepare for this baby and I have three dogs and once when I was little I rode my bike into the garage door and my grandma use to make the best fried chicken ever. I was nervous. I’m pretty sure I said all of that and more as we walked for like 10 seconds from the lobby to her sonogram room. She told me that I would need to remind the techs when they do sonograms about the cleft, but this time we wouldn’t get to see the face.

What? Why? Huh?

But I’d researched and the baby’s face forms between weeks 4-6 and I was determined I should be able to see something, anything! I was confused. I had to tt and I wasn’t thinking straight. It ended up my bladder was so full she couldn’t see anything and made me go empty it, thank God because it hurt so bad as she pushed on my bladder to see around. I don’t think I will do that again. So she checked around and all looked well then she went to the baby. It was itty bitty and not even in the form of a babe yet. She measured and he/she was only 1 cm long. How in the world am I supposed to see your face if you are 1 cm? How are you wrecking so much havoc on my body at only 1 cm? One centimeter, Seriously? It was the most precious centimeter I’d ever seen. I can say that and not show favoritism because I didn’t get to see Hill in utero until like week 13 and he was all grown up and in college by then. Seeing your baby for the first time whether in utero or in real life is always so surreal. It brings you back down a notch to be humbled and awed by God’s glorious miracles. We were glad to see all was well and that the baby had a heartbeat of 140 bpm. That was the first time we’d heard a heartbeat and we got to see the flutter of the heartbeat. So sweet. So neat. As soon as I got home I Googled 140 bpm boy or girl? Unfortunately 140 bpm is the median of the line so I can’t even sway one direction or the other.

After the sonogram, which we got pictures and have on DVD as if we were at Disney and got all the prizes to carry home, we went to see Dr. North. Dr. North said all my blood work and tests came back great from my original appointment. He went down the list and said I don’t have HIV or chlamydia or any funky transmitted diseases. So that’s a bonus….

He noticed my rash on my chest and said we’d keep an eye on it. It looked strange but not really poison ivy like. I could put cortisone cream on it if it would help. Then after discussing my heart palpitations he decided it is better safe than sorry and he wanted to send me to a cardiologist. No need for alarm, he thinks I just have anxiety but it’s become an issue and he wants to double check. I go back in 4 weeks.

The next day Dr. North’s office calls and has an appointment with a cardiologist, Dr. William Crowder lined up for Thursday the 5th. I felt like I needed to tell my boss what was going on since I hate secrets and don’t like to feel like a slacker at work. I needed to tell my boss but it was on the cusp of my friend, coworker, also the only other female in my department having a baby three days before hand. Barry was so excited. He loves it that people have babies and even though his daughters are in high school and college he can’t wait to be a grandpa. I literally have the best boss ever, I work for a fantastic family oriented company and I didn’t need reminding but Barry was sure to state that I do whatever I need to do because that little baby and my family come before anything else. That’s always good to hear. I get teary eyed every time I think about the CEO of my company hearing something was potentially wrong with Hill. He called me in his office and said that he and his family were joyous when they heard Chip and I were expecting and they still continue to be joyous and then he asked if he could pray with me. I sat in his office and prayed with him it was a calming moment and meant more to me than anyone will ever know. During my pregnancy is when the people I work with weren’t just coworkers anymore and my job wasn’t just a paycheck, it became working with family. Everyone was so supportive and it still continues to be that way. I am so fortunate to love what I do and work with people that I respect.

So off I went Thursday afternoon to the cardiologist. I was by far the youngest person there. When the nurse called me back she said, “do you have high blood pressure?” I said no and she said, why are you here? I explained my palpitations and being pregnant and preventative check-up. She took my blood pressure and it was 118/50 which was low, not bad, but low. Strange being that I was nervous and had such low pressure. The doctor came in and he was great. He’s like 38 and extremely down to earth. It was a breath of fresh air. We laughed and he said he has seen a handful of young healthy pregnant mothers with the same conditions. Usually it’s nothing to be alarmed about but he wanted to do a sonogram of my heart and have me wear a monitor for 48 hours. I assured him I didn’t want to do any unnecessary tests and if his word was that all was well then I could rest peacefully knowing that it’s ok and he didn’t need to do all these tests. He said he’d feel better doing them. So we did. I did the sonogram (and they called me the next day to say all was well) then as the lady was hooking the monitor that I needed to wear for 48 hours on to me she nonchalantly said, “You cannot take a bath for 48 hours.” Umm what? That was not part of the deal. It’s a good thing you caught me on a morning where I had enough time to shower! Otherwise I’d be a nasty grease monster going to visit my family in Texas this weekend! What was I going to tell my parents as they see me and then wonder why I have this random antennae probe coming out of my shirt. Turtlenecks in April?