The picture at the bottom of this post is "Little P" at 8 weeks. Little P is what I have been calling my baby because we do not yet know the gender and I got the idea for the temporary name from my mother who had been calling the baby "Precious Peterson" and I just shortened it to Little P instead.
On November 24th, which was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving my husband, mother, and I all went to my first appointment. I went in not really knowing what to expect and I really wish I had known what they were going to do just to mentally prepare myself for it. The first thing they did was a Pap test and even my mother was shocked about that because she never had to have one with me or my brother. I also did not really expect to have an ultrasound done that day but that was a very pleasant surprise. I would honestly be perfectly happy if they did one every time I go in for an appointment. But again, it involved sticking a cold object up someplace unpleasant. But getting to see my baby fir the first time made it well worth it. In the picture at the bottom of this post, the baby is in a dark circle in the upper left-hand corner and it appears to be upside down. We were able to see the tiny little heart beating away and small arms and legs squirming around inside of me.
After I got dressed, I had to go get some blood drawn. Guess how many large vials of blood they took from me in less than two minutes. Just guess. The total was SEVEN. Never in my life have I ever had that much blood drawn all at once. After the nurse filled the final bottle, I felt okay to my surprise. Holding the cotton ball on my arm I noticed my ears beginning to ring. I said to the nurse "I have never had my ears ring after having blood drawn before." She immediately turned around with her eyes wide and asked me if I was okay and said that ears ringing is really not a good sign. About another minute past and I could feel my consciousness slowly start to slip away. It started with fuzzy vision and it was like a gray fog had covered my eyes. The nurse touched my arm and said I was burning up. She grabbed an ice pack and put it on my neck. I could not tell that the pack was even cold. After about five minutes, I started to feel my head clear. Someone brought me a glass of ice water and I drank and drank. When the nurse removed the ice pack, my hair had frozen to it because I had been sweating profusely. I didn't even realize I had been sweating until then. But indeed my clothes were soaked. Next time I get blood drawn I am supposed to drink a ton of water before and lay down while having the blood drawn. They said they will only take three vials next time which should be a lot easier on me. Again, I wish I just knew to be ready for that, but I hope that someone will read this post and be prepared for their first prenatal visit as a result of my experience.
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