a wiggle, two arms and two legs

We had an AWESOME OB appointment today!!!!

Dr. B. skipped the doppler and went straight to the ultrasound. After a few seconds of focusing, there was the flicker! The smile didn't leave my face after that, and still hasn't. Baby wiggled a bit for us, and we got to see the little arm and leg buds. Baby actually looked a little bit like a baby! Dr. B. took a good look around, and we gazed at baby for several minutes. Paul asked for pictures (that's his job at appointments - the one thing for him to remember) and we came home with three wonderful pictures of baby. That's already more than we have from our previous two pregnancies combined. I need to figure out how to get them up here.

Dr. B. was actually running ahead today, so they called me back a few minutes early - before Paul got there. My stomach had been flipping and I was just scared. I did okay until the nurse brought me into the exam room, when I sat down and promptly started crying. The last time I was in that room was my two-week follow-up appointment after my last miscarriage. It was just overwhelming. I get overwhelmed so easily right now.

The nurse is the same one who was with us the day we learned our baby boy had no heartbeat. She told me she's a crier and will start up when I cry. She let me calm down a bit while she went over my lab work and THEN she took my blood pressure. That was a good move, but my heart was still racing! After the appointment, she told me that when Dr. B. came out, she asked right away if everything was okay. And then she hugged me in the hall.

We spent a good amount of time talking with Dr. B., and she's very eager to see us through this pregnancy. I go back in two weeks for an ultrasound and in four weeks for my next appointment. She said we'll just take things from appointment to appointment, but she'll likely see me every two weeks from week 13 to week 22 - the critical weeks in my previous pregnancies. Being cared for like this alone gives me so much comfort and peace of mind.

God is so good! Every day I have with my baby is another day my heart grows a bit bigger.