Relief.

I had my 12 week appointment with my ob this morning and I was unbelievably nervous. On a day to day basis, I rarely consider that things might be going wrong-- but when faced with a doctor who needs to confirm that they are going right? Well, I'm a mess.

It's been a month since we've seen or heard from Baby Blakely and I'm obviously not far enough along to feel anything. It leaves a lot of time to wonder, "Are you still in there, baby?" When the doctor walked in this morning and she asked how I was feeling, I answered honestly. "Nervous." She assured me that she felt the exact same way during her pregnancies and that there's this scary void between your first few ultrasounds and seeing/hearing/feeling the baby later in pregnancy.

She warned me as she got out the doppler that it was still early and we might not hear anything yet--but, the minute it touched my skin, I heard it. Baby Blakely was quite active this morning--swimming all over the place as she tried to chase the baby all over my tummy. We kept losing it, then hearing it again. Heart rate is still in the 160's! She mentioned that it was really good to be able to hear the baby at 13w1d-- But wait, I'm only 11w6d! (She then remembered that we had to calculate my due date based on my O date, because of my long cycles.) She then said she was really surprised that we were able to hear it so early and that we must have a baby with a very strong heartbeat. I couldn't wipe the stupid grin off my face.

Unfortunately, Rob was out of town for work today, so he didn't get to hear it, but he will soon, because I bought a doppler this weekend. I said I wasn't going to, but I just couldn't help myself. I want to be able to ease my anxiety when there are four long weeks between appointments. I want Rob to be able to hear what he missed, and I want my parents to be able to hear it, too. I bought the same one that Kate has and I hope I have as much luck finding the heartbeat as she did!

I talked to the doctor about the terrible migraines I've been getting for the past week, that Tylenol just doesn't touch. She said that it's very common to get these in late 1st trimester/early 2nd trimester, especially for women who struggled with migraines prior to pregnancy. (Raises Hand.) She wrote me a prescription for Fioricet and I'm hopeful that this will work. (My dad's taken it before, says it's good stuff.) I'm a little nervous that this is a Class C drug, but my doctor says that it's safe and I really need some relief.

Our next appointment is scheduled for March 29th-- we'll be one day shy of 16 weeks. I asked the doctor if we'll have to wait until 20 weeks to find out the sex. She said that she really likes to do it before 20 weeks, sometime between 18-20 weeks. So, we'll go back in between 18-19 weeks. 6-7 weeks seems like so far away, but I know it will pass quickly. There are so many things around the house that I hope to have done by the time we find out, so that we can start decorating the room! The nursery is a disaster right now (it's my sewing room) and I have my work cut out for me between now and then! My nesting phase hasn't exactly kicked in-- I'm more in the sleeping phase right now.