We heard the Heart Beat

So we just started our 11th week of pregnancy and it was time of our third doctor's appointment.

Since this is our first child, it was our first third doctor appointment, so we had no idea what to expect.

It was pretty short. She weighed in 3lbs over the previous month which was good and we talked to the doc briefly about the overall progress so far. Everything is progressing well.

It seemed that was going to be the whole visit and all of a sudden, she pulls out a device that let us hear the heart beat.

That was pretty cool, because the ultra sound weeks ago did not allow us to hear anything... just see it. It's kind of funny that it's called an ultra sound if you can't hear anything.

Anyway, it was pretty damn cool to hear the heartbeat. It's beating fast as per normal at about 160 beats per minute.

That's the update for now.

First Doctor Visits: It's official, she's pregnant.

Ok, so we just went in for our "early" ultra sound... which means there will be more ultra sounds.

We're only on the 8th week and this is already our second doctor's visit. I think I need to have a talk with the doc and see which visits are really necessary and which are superfulous monitoring.

I want to give my baby a healthy up bringing, but I don't want to become doctor dependant.

I do question the dependance on being at the doctor or a hospital all the time. How many of the doctor visits are going to be neccessary and how many are not?

I'm not sure how I feel about the ultra sound. It seems like over kill to me. But it was pretty cool to see the little bugger on the computer screen. I'll admit that.

Although the machine does not let you hear the heart beat, we were able to see it beating rapidly, which is very normal. About a baby / fetus rapid heartbeat (about.com)

So now it's officially official. My wife is pregnant and we're going to be parents.

I guess we have another ultra sound at 20 weeks to find out more information, but I'm kind of weirded out about looking in there all the time.

In the old days (back when I was born) they didn't do ultra sounds and I'm pretty sure babies were still being born. In fact, I'm pretty sure babies have been born for generations with out these fancy gizmos and gadgets. However, I do know that modern technology can improve quality of life in many ways, so I'm torn on the issue.

While checking out the ultra sound pics was pretty neat, I'm not quite sure what it accomplished. I saw there was something in there, but I already knew that.

It made my wife feel better though, as she teared with relief that everything was going to be ok. That made it worth it.

One thing I have to keep remembering on my way to becoming the best dad I can be is that when mommy's happy... daddy's happy.

Oh yeah... here's a picture of our kid!



ultra sound photo at 8 weeks one day

My father in law says it looks like me :)


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Finding out my wife is pregnant

Now that we've been to the doctor and everything is official, I'm remembering back to when I first found out my wife is pregnant.

I hear a cry for my name and answer the call. "I'm pregnant" my wife yelled as I was laying on the couch.

I got up and went to the bathroom. There on the counter was a pee stick pregnancy test. I'd seen them before. My wife wanted to be pregnant and she was checking and hoping almost since the day we were married.

I remembered seeing wierd false positve like results on tests in the past. I would look at the questionable stick and it would be a negative sign with just a hint of a line down the middle. The box explains similar results which could mean positive... but in our case it was negative each time I gave a second opinion.

This time when I looked, it was undeniably a positve test result.

I don't know exactly how to explain the feeling I had. It wasn't quite disbelief, because I understood the whole process and could see the results right in front of me. I wasn't quite afraid, though I do ponder the challenges ahead. I felt like I was happy... I guess.

I say "I guess" with a smile, as I know I was happy. However, my wife would explain that I didn't show I was happy.

I remember it as a time when I felt a bit proud and deep in thought. My wife remembers it as me saying something like "yep, you're pregnant" and then going back to my work.

Oops!

Any guy reading this, remember to hug your lady when she tells you she's pregnant (and probably other important stuff too).

In an effort to be the best dad I can be... I'll try to remember, more hugs.

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