Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Worth The Wait

Well, today has been filled with relieving and exciting news which made all of the weekend's fretting seem so worth it. Jim took Addy to her doctor's appointment this morning, while I filled out paperwork and waited and waited and waited in an unfamiliar OB's office. Addy is fine, her rash is a yeast infection which requires prescription cream, but no ear infection or anything, so that was good as far as I'm concerned. Rash= way better than ear drops or tubes or whatever.
And now for the really good news. After finally getting into the exam room after forty-five minutes, Dr. K got called away for a delivery. I curled up with my feet under my butt to keep them from turning into purple Popsicles frozen to the stirrups, and waited some more. The doctor finally got there, introduced himself, then abruptly informed me that it was much too soon for Braxton-Hicks and that if I was feeling contractions, I was probably beginning to miscarry. Nice to meet you, too, Doc!
He examined my cervix, and declared it to be fine, but said he wanted to look and measure it with ultrasound as well. Then he left. Now, in my usual doctor's office, they leave, wheel the ultrasound machine back in, and perform the sonogram there. But in this office, as I surmised after waiting like a moron for about ten minutes, you have to get redressed and go to a different room for the ultrasound. So I wandered down the hall to the desk, handed them my chart, and said hesitantly, "Am I supposed to be somewhere?"
"Room 5, have a seat and wait." The expression added, "Duh."
So off I trudge, wait some more, only to find that Dr. K has been called out to yet another birth, and I will be examined by an ultrasound technician instead. Which is fine by me, as Dr. K's charming bedside manner has done little to impress me thus far. The ultrasound technician is a really nice woman, early thirties, with long brown hair and pretty little silver hoops. She smiles, and does not offer flat, depressing statements, so I like her better than the other guy already.
She looks at and measures my cervix with the good 'ole transvaginal ultrasound, and again, everything appears fine and I am not dilated at all, so I feel hugely relieved and also slightly stupid for having wasted everyone's time. But not so stupid that I'm going to waste this opportunity.
"While you're there..." I begin. "Is it possible to tell the gender at this age?"
She tilts her head and starts probing around further (such an indescribable feeling, that probing!) "Not usually," she explains, "But since I'm looking with the vaginal ultrasound instead of over your belly, I'll have a better view. I can try!"
She is quiet for awhile, moving her wand inside my womb. "This is a squirmy baby!" she comments at one point. Then, "Oh, there's the cord, you see? And then over here, between the legs... Can you see that?" She points and freezes the camera frame.
And I can. I can see it. It is a penis. There is a penis inside me, and I am not currently having sex. You know what that means!
I have had a big stupid grin on my face all day long. We're having a little boy! A squirmy, feisty one, apparently, whose rolling and thrashing against my uterine wall I mistook for contractions. I could not be happier. A boy and a girl. Perfect.

11 comments:

Swistle said...

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

A BOY A BOY A BOY A BOY A BOY! And finding out early! And everything looking fine! This is such happy and exciting news!

Jennifer said...

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

I'm expecting a girl, so I'll have a boy and a girl, too!

What an asshat doctor.

mamashine said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!

How fun!

I can't believe that doctor said that. I would kick his butt.

Anonymous said...

YAY YAY YAY!
I'm glad Addy's bum rash is merely a yeast infection, and a boy, well, what could be better news than that?!

Anonymous said...

I haven't cried when I've read your blogs for a long time . . . but I did with this one. I'm sure you won't mind. (from SDH's Mom!)

Mommy Daisy said...

Congrats! How exciting! It seemed like you were leaning towards wanting a boy. And that is so cool that you could see the penis too. At my 20 week, the doctor, x-ray tech, and OB nurse all agreed that I was having a boy, but we couldn't see a thing. We watched the taped ultrasound over and over and still thought "ok, if he says so". Then he wouldn't look at any of my other ultrasounds, because he said "if I saw that it was a boy once it's still a boy now". Ha, ha! Glad it was a boy. I would have been mad if he was wrong!

Anyway, I'm happy to hear that everything is ok with you, the baby, and Addy. How exciting! It is so much fun to know!

Black Sheeped said...

Congratulations!!!

Swistle said...

I see the newly blue ticker! Yay for boys!

When my brother was born many years ago, someone sent my mom a card that said on the front "Boys are wonderful! Boys are great!" We've been saying that in our family ever since--which is a good thing since I'm having a FOURTH boy.

Anonymous said...

Yay for the boy! And a bigger YAY for no miscarriage!

Maddie had that yeast infection diaper rash thingy, too. It cleared up in just a couple of days with the precsciption cream.

And I agree with Jennifer; that doctor is an asshat.

Swistle said...

You know what I wish on that doctor? A full understanding of what it's like to be pregnant, followed by a full understanding of everything he's ever said that shows he's an oblivious pinehole.

Sarah said...

I am cracking up right now. Oblivious Pinehole! That should totally be the name of a band.