1st Prenatal

When my GP finally walked into her office yesterday she was an hour late.  She sat hurriedly at the computer. "I am so sorry.  I am running so late.  Give me a minute, let me get up your file... and here it is... and... OMG!  I didn't know that's what you where here for.  That's fucking amazing".

Yup.  My doctor actually said that to me.  

I had my first prenatal appointment.  They did the usual, height, weight, and ordered some labs for blood work and urine and of course to get the magic hcg numbers.  The numbers that will let me know that the baby is going to be ok.  I am also going to be going for a dating and viability ultrasound sometime next week.

I am excited and terrified.

I am so excited to hear my baby's teeny, tiny heart beating away, and to see him or her for the first time, all contorted and tadpole like this early in the pregnancy.  Terrified about the viability part.  Terrified they won't find that teeny tiny heart.  They are doing this of course because of my history.  Because of the last pregnancy that ended so early.

My doctor is actually also my mother's doctor, and my sister's, and my sister-in-law's, and my nephew's... what can I say... if you find a doctor that is so excited for you that she swears at you you share her with family.  But this means she has to be sworn to secrecy because we aren't ready to tell family.  My mother has enough on her plate worrying about my father that she doesn't need to hear news that won't be forever good.  We can wait to tell her for a few more weeks.

My doctor however did almost let the cat out of the bag already.  Because I am negative for titers to measles, mumps and rubella I have concerns about my in-laws who don't vaccinate as well as a trip to Europe we have planned for this summer where these diseases are having an outbreak.  My doctor decided to seek advice from the head of infectious diseases at the hospital.  She started the e-mail by saying "my patient" and she used my name.  "That's my mom's boss!" I quickly pointed out to her.  "You can't let my mom's boss know I'm pregnant before I tell her!!"

Yes, not only do I go to the same doctor as my mother, but the doctor is at the hospital where my mother has worked for 25 years and the head of infectious diseases for the hospital is my mother's boss.  It is so hard to keep a secret in a town the size of 3 million people isn't it?

The good news is that the advice is to be more afraid of car accidents.  The infectious disease doctor says I likely have some functional immunity even if I don't have titers being raised against the diseases and so I should feel comfortable to enjoy our weeks in Europe.