PC Diary: My first OB appointment

The Pudding Club Diary @ 10w2d

I have been living in the moment for the past week.  Helped by my wonderful family visiting me all the way from the UK (my mum, gran, aunt and uncle).  I took a week of leave and we showed them the wonderful sights, sounds and tastes of Virginia!  Well…local Virginia at least.  This has definitely been one good way to keep in the present.  But not long after they departed I started to begin to worry about my upcoming Obstetrician appointment and scan.  I hadn’t really been feeling the symptoms I had previously – tiredness and nausea mostly.  But then Sunday & Monday came and I felt queasy all day and absolutely shattered.  The yawning was incessant!! So that put me back in my place and I was less worried….but then this morning as I drove to the doctors I started thinking what if there was no heartbeat? What if it was way behind?  Just before we headed into the ultrasound, there was a couple crying.  My heart felt for them, I shed a little tear.  I reminisced to our ectopic pregnancy, waiting to collect the methotrexate to terminate the pregnancy in the Children’s hospital, crying.  I worried some more for us.

We were called back to the ultrasound room and I was excited when the technician didn’t ask me to strip from the waist down.  I was getting a transabdominal ultrasound this time! Woohoo!!!! My ovaries are still super enlarged and it got a bit uncomfortable for a moment.  But that didn’t matter because there was our little rocky, literally waving at us and wriggling! We saw the profile of Rocky’s teeny tiny hands and feet.  We didn’t get to hear the heartbeat, but it was doing a strong 166BPM.  Rocky measured spot on 10w2d.  We were given our souvenir printouts and I was moving onto the next part of the appointment.

As this was my first time at this OBGYN I had the most thorough exam, medical history and tests done in my life.  Probably more than all our infertility testing!!!

I had EIGHT vials of blood drawn for various tests including a few extra for toxoplasmosis (because we have cats) and for my iron levels. Yey.  Should have just donated my blood whilst I was at it!  I also had a pap smear, a breast exam and a very thorough pelvic exam.  My poor tummy went through it all today, it’s a bit sore now 😦

I was given a big information booklet which also included a description of all the prenatal screening tests we may want to have and how much each one cost (helpfully along with the insurance code so I could phone my insurance and check for coverage).

We also talked about a few things that they will check for because Rocky is an IVF baby.  We will see a Perinatologist (someone who specialises in fetal medicine) at the hospital to check the baby’s heart at around 5 1/2 mths (fetal echocardiagram).  We will also not be allowed to go beyond 41 weeks – her explanation wasn’t particularly compelling, but I’ll go with the flow!  She said that as we have an IVF baby they don’t like to get into complications so would induce before then….???!!!

In other exciting news I took my last progesterone suppository last night and removed the estrogen patches this morning…I am now drug free!  A first for quite some time.  Whoop whoop!

Today Chris told me his favourite part of the day was when I was looking at our ultrasound photos and I smiled and excitedly said to him…”It had little cute tiny feet!”.  He said it’s been a long, long time since he has seen me this happy and it was lovely.

And he was right, it was all very lovely too.

35 thoughts on “PC Diary: My first OB appointment”

  1. Amy M. says:
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    I love everything about this post!! And OMG you’re 10 weeks already!?!? I’m so happy to hear that everything went so well at your appointment. Sad about the couple that was in before you though, I hate to see things like that. We’ll be having our fetal-echo 4 weeks from tomorrow…I’ll let you know how the process goes! They said it can take a while because they need baby to be super still, which doesn’t always happen right away. Here’s to hoping your next appt goes just as well!!

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    • thegreatpuddingclubhunt says:
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      Thank you 🙂 I’ve been reading up on the fetal echo and there seems to be debate about whether there really is a higher risk for IVF babies – but in the end, there must have been some reason why it was recommended so I guess it won’t hurt!

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  5. notpregnantinrezza says:
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    Oh how lovely, sounds like everything is going really well and great that you have a thorough doctor. I’m not sure I get what the difference is with Ivf babies or if I really want to know. I asked the midwife last week and she said she didn’t think there was a difference beyond conception but she might not have really known what she was talking about. Hoping the tiredness etc eases for you soon it did for me around 13 weeks.

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    • thegreatpuddingclubhunt says:
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      Thank you 🙂 It’s good to hear that your tiredness started to dissipate around 13w because that is a milestone I would love to achieve! just a couple more weeks and if it’s getting better I will be a very happy lady! Yes I did a bit of reading about differences about IVF babies and really there is very little proof. For the heart issues, the difference between IVF baby and non IVF baby,the chances of having a problem was significant, but the actual risk of it occurring in general is tiny, so there are many doctors who argue against this kind of testing.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. lovingthemarriedlife says:
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    I’m so happy for you! I know that fear well every time we had any ultrasounds or doppler experiences I held my breath in fear! Rocky is excited to be apart of you and I believe that he will stick around for 41 weeks till they tell him he has to come out lol

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  13. g2the4thpower says:
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    Awesome!! The ivf baby business is a bunch of BS in my opinion (I’m not a doctor, just an eye roller). In Canada ivf pregnancies are treated no different. At least not in my province. I’m always surprised when I read of doctors saying all of these worrisome things. It seems to me more of a case by case thing is appropriate. Statistically, I’m sure you’ll be fine!

    Liked by 1 person

    • thegreatpuddingclubhunt says:
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      Thank you 🙂 Yes, I was just saying the same thing to Notpregnantinrezza (above) that I did some reading up about it all and really there is little proof. There is research to show that there are ‘significant’ differences between IVF babies and non IVF babies hearts….but the risk is so absolutely tiny of it occurring that many doctors don’t worry about this test (unless there are other factors to consider). So I am sure everything will be fine! But I will take the test though because it isn’t invasive and they offer it!

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  17. flatwhitetogo85 says:
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    This post has made me smile so much! I’m so pleased that things seem to be working out for you after everything you have been through. Don’t be alarmed if your symptoms do go – I’ve generally not felt a single thing (except HUGE weight gain and swollen ankles) since about week 7/8. Best of luck over the coming weeks and months!x x x

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