Pregnancy Updates
Yeah... for those of you who haven't been living under an unlisted rock - I'm PREGNANT!
We're having a boy and he's due New Year's Day. Right now I'm in my 20th week and the doctor says everything looks good. We had an ultrasound three weeks ago (duh that's how we know the gender!) and everyone has commented on the impressive size of his head. Let's hope I don't need a C-section! But if I do it's not the end of the world.
Back story... last April my period didn't show up, but I wasn't paying close attention to the calendar and chalked it up to stress and travel since we'd just taken a road trip. Then in early May I noticed that I had to pee all the time, and the clothes I'd bought the week before were too tight, and then I started feeling a little queasy every morning while simultaneously craving foods that were NOT on my diet... So I took a ClearBlue Easy test with a "digital readout" feature, meaning that the word "Pregnant" showed up in a little screen on the dipstick a minute after I'd peed on it. Once I got my knees to stop shaking I shared the information with Rich. We spent the next few hours talking and crying (well the crying was all me) and making up from all the arguments we'd had recently. Eventually we both went to sleep, and in the morning I told Rich I wanted to keep the baby. He said that was fine with him, and the rest is history.
The reason I'd been so upset about the pregnancy was that I did not have health insurance at the time. Plus we were both between jobs; I was temping off and on, and Rich was transitioning back to work after spending a few months day-trading. Not the best situation to bring a baby into... Then a coworker at my temp assignment told me about TennCare, the state Medicaid program, which just about always approves pregnant women. So I applied for TennCare, got an "official" pregnancy test from Planned Parenthood (positive, of course) as proof of my condition, and bided my time for a whole month (yes, a month!) before I was notified to come in and meet with a caseworker. The waiting around sucked of course, and the Department of Human Services place was, in a word, icky. The walls were painted a color I can only describe as "puke blue" and it was hot and crowded and not fun. But after a few hours of waiting (yes you read that correctly) I met with a caseworker who kindly approved me for TennCare coverage. Phew!
I found a very nice OBGYN named Dr. Hamilton, whose office is located at my neighborhood hospital. Due to the TennCare processing time - apparently they take a month to review every application - I was in my 15th week before I could get any prenatal care. But Dr. Hamilton's nurse, Tia, assured me that I hadn't missed much, and that I'd probably saved myself a blood test or two. During this visit Tia checked the baby's heart rate with a Doppler device, and it sounded good and strong! I got all teary-eyed over it... Tia also confirmed that, based on the heart rate, I had correctly ballparked the gestational age.
Two weeks later I had my ultrasound appointment. Rich took the day off from work for this, and we're both very glad he did! If you've never had a baby I can tell you, there's nothing like seeing your unborn child's image on the screen, seeing the heart pumping... it's just incredible. Even Rich, tough guy that he is, was touched. The ultrasound tech was quite a character, and his humor really put us at ease. When he located the baby's genitalia he kindly pointed out the penis and scrotum, and labeled it "Weenie." We have a 9-minute video of the ultrasound session, which yielded these still images:
We're having a boy and he's due New Year's Day. Right now I'm in my 20th week and the doctor says everything looks good. We had an ultrasound three weeks ago (duh that's how we know the gender!) and everyone has commented on the impressive size of his head. Let's hope I don't need a C-section! But if I do it's not the end of the world.
Back story... last April my period didn't show up, but I wasn't paying close attention to the calendar and chalked it up to stress and travel since we'd just taken a road trip. Then in early May I noticed that I had to pee all the time, and the clothes I'd bought the week before were too tight, and then I started feeling a little queasy every morning while simultaneously craving foods that were NOT on my diet... So I took a ClearBlue Easy test with a "digital readout" feature, meaning that the word "Pregnant" showed up in a little screen on the dipstick a minute after I'd peed on it. Once I got my knees to stop shaking I shared the information with Rich. We spent the next few hours talking and crying (well the crying was all me) and making up from all the arguments we'd had recently. Eventually we both went to sleep, and in the morning I told Rich I wanted to keep the baby. He said that was fine with him, and the rest is history.
The reason I'd been so upset about the pregnancy was that I did not have health insurance at the time. Plus we were both between jobs; I was temping off and on, and Rich was transitioning back to work after spending a few months day-trading. Not the best situation to bring a baby into... Then a coworker at my temp assignment told me about TennCare, the state Medicaid program, which just about always approves pregnant women. So I applied for TennCare, got an "official" pregnancy test from Planned Parenthood (positive, of course) as proof of my condition, and bided my time for a whole month (yes, a month!) before I was notified to come in and meet with a caseworker. The waiting around sucked of course, and the Department of Human Services place was, in a word, icky. The walls were painted a color I can only describe as "puke blue" and it was hot and crowded and not fun. But after a few hours of waiting (yes you read that correctly) I met with a caseworker who kindly approved me for TennCare coverage. Phew!
I found a very nice OBGYN named Dr. Hamilton, whose office is located at my neighborhood hospital. Due to the TennCare processing time - apparently they take a month to review every application - I was in my 15th week before I could get any prenatal care. But Dr. Hamilton's nurse, Tia, assured me that I hadn't missed much, and that I'd probably saved myself a blood test or two. During this visit Tia checked the baby's heart rate with a Doppler device, and it sounded good and strong! I got all teary-eyed over it... Tia also confirmed that, based on the heart rate, I had correctly ballparked the gestational age.
Two weeks later I had my ultrasound appointment. Rich took the day off from work for this, and we're both very glad he did! If you've never had a baby I can tell you, there's nothing like seeing your unborn child's image on the screen, seeing the heart pumping... it's just incredible. Even Rich, tough guy that he is, was touched. The ultrasound tech was quite a character, and his humor really put us at ease. When he located the baby's genitalia he kindly pointed out the penis and scrotum, and labeled it "Weenie." We have a 9-minute video of the ultrasound session, which yielded these still images:
Rich kindly added his own artistic touch to this image - I had no idea he was so talented!
So anyway Rich has a good job now, and I have health coverage, and we're both very happy and excited. Yes it's not necessarily the best timing but we've accepted that. Our baby will be born to adults who are in love and living together, and who already love the baby very much. We haven't set a date yet but yes, we are planning to get married. We haven't picked a name yet - we're calling him the Player To Be Named Later. And I will try to blog more often and keep you updated on all things baby!
posted by Chloe @ 2:11 PM
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