Wednesday, August 8, 2007

20 Weeks and Doctor's Appointment!

Today was two important milestones, so excuse me if the post runs long... I am officially halfway through the pregnancy now, since I'm 20 weeks today. We also went to the doctor for a check up and had our ultrasound.

The ultrasound was first, and it was really great. We didn't get any great photos, although we have a few, since according to the woman who did it, Hosey is not a photogenic baby. Hosey would not stay still, and continually moved away from the ultrasound, although watching the blurry mess that is Hosey on the screen was really fun. We saw the feet (and got a picture) and the spine, and all the other fun parts. Hosey likes to be elbow to knee, as I'm sure they all do, and he/she kept putting those little hands in front of his/her face. It's neat, and the woman said she thinks Hosey will be stubborn.

All of her measurements and things were normal, so Hosey has a heart, brain, stomach, etc. that are all working perfectly, and perfectly formed. And she did tell us that she knows the sex, and that it is definitely one or the other. So Hosey is not a hermaphrodite. Which is good news I guess. :) They don't write the sex down anywhere, since if they did it would probably get leaked to us through one of the nurses or something, so it's now a secret to everyone. Probably best that way.

We listened to the heartbeat with the regular doctor, and this time it was 150 beats per minute (roughly), so according to the doctor, if we go by the old wives' tales, it was a boy last time, when it was 140 beats per minute, and a girl this time, with the faster heartbeat. I think it's fun to know the old wives' tale indicators and see if any of them turn out to be true. So far they haven't been very clear.

We also talked about my work schedule, and she said that I should not be working any more than 40 hours a week, and that she would write a note if she needed to. She said that the rate of people working in high stress environments (some of you may not know, but my job is a high stress job, since my current case load at work is around 400, and 250 is supposed to be a comfortable one. So basically I get about 15 phone calls a day from worried foreign nationals and/or HR representatives, and if I'm out for a day or two, I come back to anywhere between 75 and 90 e-mails that require a response) run high risks of pre-term labor. She said that doctors and lawyers (which should include us paralegals, since we have similar hours without the paychecks and client schmoozing) have an astronomical rate for pre-term labor because they work too hard too much. So I'm going to have to have a chat with my supervisor and stop leaving work at 7:00 or later every day. Considering I get there at 8:45, I don't feel too bad.

She said that everything else looked great, and that I seem very healthy and look great. We talked about weight gain, and she agrees with my goal of only gaining 20-25 pounds through the whole pregnancy. It will be tough, but when you are carrying extra weight to start with, it's best not to gain the normal 30 to 40 pounds.

I am also signed up for a pregnancy yoga class, which will include free weights. I'm actually excited about it, although I'm sure the yoga studio will be snobby since it's in the Virginia Highlands. It's an 8 week program, which will take me close to the point where I won't want to do it (I think) and I intentionally picked a time that will force me to leave work a little early on Thursdays. I'm really excited about it! It starts the week of August 19th. The studio, the Pierce Yoga Studio, also does a childbirth class for you and your partner that I think I might sign up for eventually with Justin, and they offer pregnancy massage for pretty reasonable rates. So we'll see... :)

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