My Lil’ Parasite Baby Blog

15 weeks…this one’s a keeper! March 27, 2008

Well, today we had visit #5 to check the status of our hero, Captain Peanut. As I said to Krista earlier this week, it’s probably time to give our dear Captain a new nickname since he/she has grown so much in the last few weeks. Admiral Avocado, perhaps?

Anyway, today’s visit to the OB was great. I had a different doctor this time, and she was older and less tense. I’m giving my other doctor the benefit of the doubt and will assume that it was merely coincidental that she always seemed to be having a stressful day! We didn’t have an ultrasound this time, just a heartbeat check using a handheld Doppler device. The rate was 152 beats per minute and the doc said the rhythm was strong and LOUD. We heard that for ourselves, and Brian and I were both grinning from ear to ear. I got to ask lots of questions today and found out that our hospital is very nice and that they let you assume whatever positions you want to ease the pain, as long as it’s not risky to the baby or me. I think I’d like to give a birthing ball a try. I can’t say I’m not going to have an epidural, but I’m certainly not going into this determined to be on drugs. Methinks we’ll play it by ear!

So, we’ve got 3 appointments scheduled for the month of April: 1) The first is in a week and a half when they will do an AFP test, which just involves drawing blood. They looks for abnormalities that may indicate birth defects. I’m not too worried about that, though, since all our other tests have come back totally normal. 2) In 3 weeks we go for a Level 2 Ultrasound, which will look for any physical defects. Again, I’m not too concerned, but the docs encouraged it since I took Retin-A for a week before I knew I was prego. That is in the same class of chemicals as Accutane, which causes severe birth defects. However, to my knowledge, no birth defects have ever been correlated to Retin-A use. Bonus: At this visit, we may get to have a look at Captain Peanut’s/Admiral Avocado’s “goods” and see what we’re having. How exciting! 3) 4 weeks from now we’ll have another regular office “tummy check” to give me the once-over and make sure things are still moving along.

I’ve gained 9 pounds so far, which is about where you should be when you are 5 months pregnant. Whoops! Once again I am ahead of the curve! The doc said I was okay though and “didn’t look too puffy.” Brian and I both thought that was pretty funny. Here’s to staying not too puffy!

See you next time!