I usually see the doctor zero times per year. Obviously, that changes when I'm pregnant, but even then it's typically just my monthly OB checkups. Somehow, though, in the span of a few weeks, I ended up with a bunch of appointments: regular OB checkup, big anatomy scan for Baby, nephrology follow-up, and cardiology. Oh, and some of these require lab samples ahead of time or 48-hour follow-up visits, bumping my appointment count up some more. That cardiology appointment tomorrow, FYI, is to see if the heart palpitation episodes I've been having multiple times a day are just a normal pregnancy symptom, or if they require more attention. They do not, in my esteemed medical opinion, require any attention, but better safe than sorry. And if there's a way to make them stop, thaaaat would be great, because they're freaking annoying.
As for Rowan, she decided to hop on the doctor bandwagon, too, and has a ton of doctor visits close to each other. We have appointments with both ophthalmology and cardiology to make sure her hypopigmentation isn't associated with a more serious condition, tuberous sclerosis. Basically, they're looking for benign tumors around her eyes and heart. They also checked her kidneys back in September, which were clear, and we just found out her eyes are all clear, too. Hooray! Plus, she was a total champ at the eye doctor. Huge relief, since she still gets a little nervous about going to the doctor. She passed the regular eye exam with flying colors, making the doctor crack up at her enthusiasm for answering all his questions, and she recovered quickly from having to be pinned down to get eye drops for dilation. She thought it was hilarious that everything was getting blurry from the eye drops. Finally, she sat totally still while the doctor examined her enlarged pupils (I was impressed with her, because the doctor smelled funky, and *I* was having a hard time sitting still as a result).
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| I might be craning my neck to find a pocket of fresh air. |
Next week is her cardiology appointment, which Rowan's actually thrilled about because she still maintains she wants to BE a cardiologist when she grows up. And we narrowly avoided a trip to the ER last week, after Rowan fell off her high footboard (is a footboard a thing? Like a headboard, but at the foot of her bed?) and caught herself on the wood floor with the side of her head. I've never heard such a sickening thump before. Thankfully, she was fine and is now appropriately wary of sitting on forbidden parts of her bed. Although she did manage to fall asleep like this last night:
Hopefully the doctor saturation will ease up once we hit February - which, by the way, is approaching alarmingly fast. We're already almost halfway through January! On the one hand, YAASSSS, get this horrid season of freezing gray slush OVER with. On the other hand? The weeks are flying by. I mean...I'm almost halfway through this pregnancy.
I finally started wearing maternity clothes full-time, which is heavenly. Mostly what took me so long is that I had to sort through five enormous garbage bags and three huge bins full of maternity clothes (mine, my sisters', my friends', plus more that I think just started spontaneously multiplying in our basement because holy shit how did I end up with SO MANY maternity clothes?). I'm not complaining; I'm psyched (and super lucky) to not have to buy any new clothes for this pregnancy. It just took me awhile to muster up the energy to sort through everything. My closet is now stocked with more maternity clothes than it usually is with just regular clothes, and my trunk is currently overflowing with everything that I'm passing on. I should've taken a picture of my sorting system for those of you who are awesome and love that kind of stuff...but just so you know, all the maternity clothes were sorted into categories: will work to wear now; will work for warmer weather; might work for work; and fancy. That was the stuff I KEPT. The rest I'm getting rid of because: they don't or won't fit right; they're not my taste; they had holes or tears; or - and this is a frequent clothing category for me - I just don't know how to wear that.
Speaking of clothes, my Person, Kristen, who I've mentioned on this blog like twelve jillion times, sent me the absolute sweetest package: freaking adorable baby boy clothes.
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| THEY DO EXIST! |
That, coupled with the fact that I can now definitely feel Baby squirming around in there, is making everything seem more real. And, yes, more awesome. I'm starting to feel like I always knew we were having a boy next. I've gotten some of the most heartfelt messages from friends who went through a similar period of cognitive dissonance after finding out the sex of their baby, and it's so helpful to know that it's not just me. Plus? Thinking about some of my favorite big sister/little brother pairs has actually brought me to tears a few times. It's not a bad thing, having a boy; it's just something I needed to get used to, you know?
Stuff like this always helps, too, of course. She's singing specifically to the baby. And try not to get creeped out at the laughter part.
Really hoping all our appointments are uneventful - especially the anatomy scan and Rowan's cardiology check - and doing our best to stay healthy in the meantime.
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