Officially official!

My last annual exam with my gyno was in mid-July and she advised me that when I did become pregnant they did not handle OB.  Bummer bcs. I really like her and have been going to her for about 5 years now, but she gave me a card of a woman's practice that they recommend. 

So we know how the story goes and I got a positive HPT (home pregnancy test) a few weeks later http://babyaltbaum.blogspot.com/2011/09/how-and-when-i-found-out.html and it was time to see a doctor and make it official!!! I first made an appointment with the woman's group that my doctor had recommended me to.  I had to wait for my new insurance to become effective on September 1st, so I had to wait about 3 weeks (it felt like FOREVER).  I made an appointment for September 9th but found out that they don't do an ultrasound at your first appointment.  What??  I thought beside the HPT that is the first thing they do at a pre-natal appointment to make sure there really is someone alive and well in there?!

Maybe I am naive but I also REALLY wanted that reassurance of the little picture!! Also, by this time I had planned that I wanted to tell my family who do not live locally, by sending them the little picture of the TINY baby in belly.  Lastly, what woman who finds out she is pregnant doesn't want to look at that little picture everyday after getting it and seeing the little life that is growing inside of her?!

I decided to call another recommended doctor who was a solo practice (and does an ultrasound at the first appointment!!!)  and schedule an appointment with her as well to at least do a little research to be able to compare the two, this appointment was for September 7th.  So both appointments in the same week and then we would choose from there who to continue seeing throughout the pregnancy - very exciting!!!

As soon as we got to the appointment I filled out paperwork (so fun!), got weighed and measured (apparently I lost .5 inch in height since my annual a month and a half ago, interesting??), sat with the doctor and went over some questions before going into the exam room.  She was very nice, gentle, and calm about everything and it was FINALLY time to look at the little sweet pea on the screen....SAY CHEESE little one;

The top one shows the 8 week old bambino and the little yolk sac (which is the thing that looks like a halo/empty circle).  The head is at the bottom of the picture and the feet are up by the yolk sac.  The bottom picture shows a big blob in the center of the little body and that was showing it's heartbeat, where it's heart is.  AWWWWWW!!!!!  Trust me it took a little time to get these images and I was immediately crying so my stomach was bouncing up and down.  It was for sure a surreal moment, I'm so glad Tim was there with me!

I left the office smiling that it was officially official, I had a little one growing inside of me!!  Our neighbor is a lactation nurse at the hospital where the Woman's Group delivers and is about 2.5 miles from our house, so after our appointment on the 7th and before our appointment on the 9th, we knocked on her door to pick her brain.  She has been at the hospital for 17 years, loves it there and coincidentally recommended a doctor that practices within the Woman's Group that I would be visiting the next day.  All good information and we were on our way.

On Friday, the meeting at the Woman's Group was thankfully not as long, I had been sent the paperwork and filled it out ahead of time and I wasn't getting an ultrasound. As small world would have it the nurse practitioner that I was seeing that day is one of Tim's past clients, which he didn't realize until we got to the office and her name was on the board.  Random for sure and a little weird...but she was very sweet and it was almost a little more comforting to have a small connection there.  We didn't have as many questions since we had asked almost all of them at the other appointment.  Our questions were more based on the specific hospital and how the group works versus solo practitioner.  She felt around on my belly and said everything felt in place and asked how my symptoms were, and we were pretty much on our way!

Now it was time to make a decision of who to work with for the next 8 months and which hospital I'd rather deliver at!  The Woman's Group and Sharp Mary Birch - A top rated Woman's Hospital in California, and both the office and the hospital are so close to our house I could walk there when I go into labor,  BUT I might not be guaranteed a private recovery room? OR The solo practitioner and Sharp Grossmont - Where our sister in law Mary delivered Ella at and it was a very nice hospital, I would have my own labor, delivery and recovery room BUT the hospital, all pre-natal appointments would all be about 15-20 minutes away, and did I like the doctor enough?  Although Tim was born at Scripps La Jolla and I have heard nothing but good things about the hospital, Tim and I ruled it out as an option because we had great options at our back door.

Decisions...Decisions!!