1st ultrasound, 2nd appointment

Yesterday I went for my first ultrasound.  Although according to my cycle I am 7 weeks pregnant, the ultrasound is reading 6 weeks.  My Dr. told me that in early pregnancy it is normal to have up to 2 weeks difference.  At the next ultrasound we will see if the dates match up.  If the ultrasound is still showing a week behind it could be that I ovulated a bit later.  But if the dates do match up then we won't change anything.  For now, I'm going with 7 weeks.  My cycles are so regular that I am sure of my ovulation days.

This is not me...lol...I found this image here.

Let me give you a little advice.  If you're going in for an ultrasound be sure to drink plenty of water beforehand.  You need a full bladder in order to have a good ultrasound.  It's been five years since I had an ultrasound and I forgot about this fact...lol.  So the tech had to do a vaginal ultrasound, which was something new to me.  It was not bad though.  Honestly.

So based on my ultrasound, things are good.  I even saw the heartbeat!  That's always a special thing to see.  The tech did not want to use sound because I'm still in early pregnancy and we don't want to disturb baby, which is prefectly fine with me.  I saw the beating, and that was enough, for now.

Today, I went to my 2nd appt. with my Dr.  This appt. was basically to discuss all of my results.  All of my blood work came back fine.  I have to have vaginal swabs done consistly throughout this pregnancy to ensure I have no infections (an infection is what most likely caused me to have PPROM with my first pregnancy).  I have no infections as of now....a good thing!

I wrote down several questions for the Dr. and asked them during my appt. (I highly suggest doing this.  If you don't write it down, you'll be sure to forget something.)  I'll share them with you...

1)  I will travel in a few weeks, by plane.  My Dr. gave me the OK (Which is good, because I can't really cancel at this point...lol).  She prescribed baby aspirin for me to start taking from now.  She said it takes 7 to 10 days to really take effect.  I was concerned as I've read a lot about aspirin being harmful during pregancy, but this is low-dose or baby aspirin and is considered safe.  The purpose of taking this is to thin my blood to prevent clotting while flying (I have a 13-14 hour flight each way).  She also wants me to purchase and wear surgical stockings to help the blood circulate properly throughout the flight.  She advised me to drink LOTS of water during the flight and to get up and walk around often.  I'm sure that water will keep me going to the bathroom many times...lol.

2)  I asked about bug repellents.  I'm planning a few outdoor gatherings with my family and there will be bugs.  She advised against these as they can contain chemicals.  She advised using products that only contain natural oils.  I've done some of my own research and some Drs okay bug sprays so I guess it depends on your Dr.  I think it's better safe than sorry and may opt for Avon's Skin-So-Soft, which is known to help keep bugs away.

3)  I asked about hair coloring.  She advised against it.

4)  I asked about teeth whitening, home kits like Crest.  She advised against it (She's kinda tough, right?  lol).

5)  In relation to my upcoming trip, I asked about the new body scanning machines.  She advised that I request the pat-down rather than the new scanning machines.  The new machines use a small does of Xray and this is not good for pregnancy.  She reminded me that I'm still in the early stages and so I should take more precautions.  So some poor woman is going to have to wand me.  I feel bad for her and for me...lol.  (As a side note, that has got to be THE most uncomfortable job in the world)

She ended the appt. by telling me that I can come see her again before I travel if I like, but it's not something I must do.  I told her I would like to see her once more and she was pretty happy with that.  So I plan to have another appt. in about 2 weeks from now.  Better safe than sorry.

So everything is looking good so far.  Besides one little detail (I will post about that at a later date), I like my Dr. so far.  I've already requested an epidural...lol...which she supports and made sure to take note of.  We have yet to tell anyone but it's getting harder to keep quiet.  My pants are becoming uncomfortably tight and I have obviously gained a little weight in the mid section.  But I can still pass it off as that, "gaining weight".  I did a little shopping this week to find some clothes that are loose in the belly area, buying me more time to share the news.  Within 3 weeks, my family should know and after vacation we'll share with my hubby's family here.  I've been lucky.  I haven't had sickness.  I've had a few moments that quickly passed so I'm feeling VERY blessed with that (much different than the first time around).

So, until next time...:)