Diary of a First Time Mom

Archive for the ‘Doctor Visits’ Category

It has been a busy few weeks and sure does feel like more than 4 weeks since our last post.  Wyatt is crawling up a storm but really likes to stand and practice his balancing.

Here he is last Thursday…  Weighing in at 17 lbs 4.5 oz!

7 months and 17 lbs!

The Baby Led Weaning experiment is still going strong.  At times I have to just do it and not think about all the mess and clean up.  Other times, we skip a day because I am beat or Wyatt is too tired.  Anyway, each time we sit down for a meal, it is a relaxed and positive experience.  He loves trying new foods.  And then spitting them out!  But I know he is eating some too.  Want to know HOW I know….?  Just ask me the next morning!

A Rainbow of Variety

I did not take an “After” photo.  But let’s say that the veggies left over looked like they had been put through a blender.  And this may be because Wyatt just cut his FIRST TOOTH!  Yes it’s true.  My gummy baby will soon be gummy no more.  I am actually surprised at how excited I am about this.  What’s next?  Learning to drive?  They say it goes by fast, but I was really unprepared at how fast baby-hood really does fly by.

Anyway, if you want to keep more up-to-date with Wyatt (oh, and me too if you’re interested…) I spend more time on Facebook than his blog so feel free to visit us at www.facebook.com/canadadre

Where DOES the time go? Wyatt had his well-baby visit on Monday. And he is super-healthy! He gained two and a half pounds in one month and is well on his way to growing big and strong, just like his daddy…

10 lbs and 5 ounces!

Check out the biceps!

HI from the doctor's office

Wyatt had his one month doctor’s visit yesterday.  Everything looks good!  He is super-healthy.

Here he is getting ready to go:

All packed up!

Wyatt turned four weeks two days ago on Sunday.  How time flies!

Here he is at the doctor’s office:

Not impressed

On September 27th, we went to get our 3D / 4D scan of the dude to see how he looks! And he is in fact a dude. His daddy was so proud. And the similarities are uncanny… Like how Scott throws up his middle finger when I try to take a photo of him… It would seem his boy takes after him in that way.

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With approximately 11 weeks to go, depending on when The Dude decides, we are excited to have this sneak peek and are looking forward to meeting him in person!

Well, we are getting ready to go to the medical imaging center today to see The Dude in person.  The main reason is so we can get all the measurements done and see the growth and progression, and basically make sure that everything is ok.  But the really exciting, superficial thing about today is, hopefully we will be able to accurately determine the baby’s gender.  And it’s weird, because we are going to be just as excited for a boy or a girl.  But somehow knowing makes the whole experience a lot more personal.  You can officially refer to the child as ‘he’ or ‘she’.  And you can plan a bit better, with clothing etc.  Not that I am about to run out and buy a whole bunch of pink or blue clothing.  To be honest, one of my favorite colors is blue.  And I played with cars as a small child.  So the whole pink for girls and blue for boys thing just doesn’t fly with me.  I remember giving the McDonald’s drive thru person an earful (in England) when she asked me if the Happy Meal was for a boy or a girl.  Actually it was for me, and I wanted the Hot Wheels toy, instead of the mini-Barbi.  But I digress…

So the appointment is at 11am.  And if you would like to follow along in ‘real time’ to see the latest updates as the day goes on, you can do so by following my lovely husband’s tweets.  I’m not even going to put in a disclaimer here.  He is un-pc and proud of it.  But he is also very good at doing regular updates.

You can read along here:  http://twitter.com/tulsascott and you don’t even need a Twitter account to do so.

More later…

PS:  Think you KNOW what the baby will be?  Post it here in Comments.  :-)

Thanks to everyone who has been asking if we found out about the baby’s gender yet. Trust me, it was the first question I asked as I was getting off the scale at our last doctor’s visit. To give you an update, the doctor sends us to a medical imaging office to get the “cadillac of ultrasounds” where they do all the measurements and tests and see how the baby is growing as well as hopefully determine the gender.

I am pleased because the images we got at the doctor so far haven’t been that clear and so this should be a much better “view”. Plus we get a DVD to take home with us!

The appointment is set for August 5th at 11am, so remember to vote on the poll to the right as to which you think it will be.

When making the appointment, the lady told me that I would have to drink 32 oz of water before 10am and not pee it out until after the exam, which lasts about an hour. I laughed. She told me I could do it, because after all, I was about to go through child birth. Yeah. I know. I just hope it’s not a bumpy road!

It all happens so fast. I went from feeling like I was just starting out, and not really feeling or looking pregnant, to being that lady (yes. lady.) that people go “awww” when they see you in the restaurant restroom or walking in the mall. Apparently my belly is cute. Ok, I’ll take it! But somehow time got the better of me and I went from feeling like I had ages to wait to really start doing anything, to being smack in the middle of all that is pregnancy.

For example, milestones are flying by. Today Scott and I went in for our 16 week checkup. Today we heard our baby’s heartbeat for the first time. It was really amazing! But then I talked through part of it!! And made the doctor go back and do it again so I could really take in the moment. That’s the thing. So much happens in every moment that I have to remember to be present, and breathe, and take it all in!

Scott recorded it on his iPhone so I will see if it turned out ok and try and upload it later on. Basically the baby’s heart is beating at 140 beats per minute. I was exhausted just listening to all that hard work. When I asked if that was normal, our doctor said the normal range is between 120-160 bpm. To which I exclaimed “Hurray! Our baby is average!”

We also started working on a registry. I have decided to not let the stores and websites fool me. This little being cannot possibly ‘need’ slash ‘require’ that much STUFF! We also ran into a mother in the baby section at Target and had a lengthy conversation about minimalistic living with a baby. It seems we share the idea that we don’t need pallets of brightly colored plastic toys from China covering every square inch of our house. She also happens to run a Montessori school here in Tulsa and is a mom of 15 month old twins. Nice to meet cool people at random!

Speaking of which, pregnancy has really given me a license to speak, so to speak… I don’t seem to care about being pc or anything anymore, but also am a free agent for any mother and/or mother-to-be to approach and be approached by, and within minutes, share the most intimate details of pregnancy with. It really is a club, isn’t it? I had no idea. But it is lovely how it seems like the world rallies around new mothers and mothers-to-be to offer support.

That’s all I got tonight. Am filled with a sudden sense of urgency to get stuff done! I think I know that this new found energy will be short lived and am a bit concerned about running out of steam before I get it all done. What? You never get it ALL done, you say? Rubbish!

Hopefully next post will include photos. We tried to take photos this morning, but I hated them all and had a little tantrum. C’est la vie! xx

Scott and I went to the doctor yesterday for our 12 week check up.  And it was a quick visit.  Pretty much just a quick ultrasound and then making the appointment for next month.  The doctor didn’t even measure the baby on the screen as she said it all looks good.  I am amazed at how you can actually see detailed features now.  Especially when you compare it to the 8 week photo (only 4 weeks ago!)

So we decided on an inside-the-womb name as I keep referring to this new little human inside of me as “the kid” and somehow it does not seem to do little him or her justice.  I have heard of many nicknames for the inside babies:  I was the Beachball (at over 9 lbs at delivery, you can imagine why), P&K’s baby was The Bean.  One blogger referred to her’s as Pico (as in de Gallo).

And so it is with great pride, that I introduce you to…  ”The Dude”.

I figure I call girls and guys ‘dude’ so it is an appropriate, gender neutral name.

So, here you go!  Say hi to The Dude.  Can you see The Dude’s little knees and arms bent?  Skinny little dude, but cute already!

Scott came home yesterday with a 20-piece Chicken McNuggets.  By request.  Ok, I did not request 20 but I did request the nuggets.  I will not say how many I ate, but I will say that it was the first meal I actually enjoyed in a long time.  Weird, as I have not eaten at McDonald’s in years.  But baby gets what baby wants.  And it seems like baby wants fast food right now.  But I wonder if this is really true, or if I just like it because it is fast, and when I hit those -panichavetoeatNOW- moments, there is always a drive thru (sic) available.

For all my natural food opinions, it feels strange to be pounding back these golden fried little wonders.  But seriously, at this point, I am just grateful I am not throwing up everything I attempt to eat.  On that note, I think I have discovered the source of my night-time morning sickness.  This morning I took my fish oil pills with breakfast, instead of dinner like I normally do, and half an hour later I was ready to start heaving.  Success!  My accidental experiment worked and I now know -don’t take the fish oil pills!  I will look for an alternative brand, but really I am on so many supplements right now, and getting tested every two weeks by my doctor to see what I am deficient in, that I am not concerned.  We shall see if the dreaded 8pm arrives tonight without its usual drama…

Speaking of doctors, I promised details of our eight-week examination.  And here they are!

Scott and I went to the doctor’s office at eight weeks (and two days) for my initial exam and first meeting with the actual doctor.  (Previous visit was mostly paperwork and Q&A with the nurse).  She was running quite late, which left lots of time for creative tweeting in the waiting room:

Off to see the Gyno-saurus for an ultrasound….not on me silly!

9:58 AM May 18th via Twitter for iPhone by @TulsaScott

Sigh.  I can’t even pretend to be annoyed because it really is quite funny to see him sitting next to the ‘all cell phones must be switched off’ sign, giggling to himself at how clever he is.

We went in and met the doctor, who is awesome by the way.  Did all the exam stuff.  Actually thought I made sure that Scott didn’t steal anything this time, and then it was time for the first ultrasound.  Ah ha!  I want proof!  Photographic evidence that, as Scott says, it’s not just a quantum-singularity in my belly absorbing all the food and raining bits of cracker and carrot into some unsuspecting land in another dimension.

Nope.  It’s a baby.

See!

Ok well maybe you can’t really see, but it’s that little blurb in the middle of the black.  Apparently the head is on the left and we watched a little light pulse in the middle.  That is the heartbeat!  Pretty cool stuff.

Our next appointment is for 12 weeks, which is next week!

Oh, and I guess Scott got away with something again…

Last Dr visit was a giant Q-tip. This visit is this? Not quite sure what it is but I ain’t gonna use it. http://yfrog.com/j0idjrj

1:27 PM May 18th via Twitter for iPhone by @TulsaScott