He or she had a strong heartbeat at 163 beats per minute. My husband and I immediately noticed the profile of this newest baby. His or her nose was very pronounced--makes me wonder???? Matt and I are not known for a samll-ish noses, but none of our girls have had a profile quite like that-- at least not that I remember. Now, I'm going to have to go back and look at all of our early sonogram pictures. Curiosity is getting the better of me!
This baby is right where I had estimated-- 12 weeks and 4 days. And there's only one. And I have no tumors. What I do have ladies and gentlemen, is a roomy "house" for our precious cargo.
In other news...
Boushka had her 15 month well check in addition to our first OB check yesterday. She went first and I asked that we save the shots until we leave.That was fine with the doc and nurse, but we nearly forgot them since we were in such a rush to get out of there in order to make it back to town to get Peach to her first soccer practice.
So, after all questions had been answered and a heartbeat found, I was telling all the kids to pack up and head out. Then Matt reminded me of the shots we still needed. Check!
Again, I was headed out and forgot to ask about the prescription for our youngest babe's rash. Turned out their system is updated and it was electronically sent to Walgreens. Check!
We were headed out again, and I remembered to make my next appointment. Check!
Then, I remembered I was supposed to have the basic OB panel drawn. Well, seeing as how it was after 5:30 and I still had to find food for us and head to the soccer fields 30 minutes away, I excused myself from the blood letting.
I did get a friendly reminder about an hour later from my sweet nurse saying, "Hey, Lara. You forgot to get your blood drawn. Just make sure you do it tomorrow when you're in for your sono."
Sure, no biggie. Except for me, it usually is. I am notorious around the doc's office for bad veins. They roll (I always want to ask if they rock). They collapse. And today I found out they "blow," to put it in my phlebotomist's words.
"Blow?" I asked. "What exactly does that mean?" Apparently, they pretty much explode.
Oh, they explode now, too? Is that the same as collapse? I don't know. All I know, is that it is quite frustrating and annoying to be constantly poked to no avail.
Yes, I was a little dehydrated. But I swear I have gone in for blood draws with less fluid circulating through my body. But it probably doesn't help that I had to get 6 tubes drawn.
After receiving 4 sticks with no flow, I was prescribed an hour of fluid intake. Matt and I headed to Henry T's for some water and a snack. I downed 3 large (I'm guessing 20 oz) glasses of water and headed back for what I was sure would be a quick poke and lots of blood flowing into tubes.
Well, I was not so pleasently surprised when I was poked 4 more times and only managed to fill 1 tube plus an 1/8 of another. And what really gets me is that I think the one tube would have been plenty... okay, maybe not plenty, but a darn good start at least.
All we really need is a CBC and antibody screening, right? I mean, here is what they're checking (and remember folks, I'm in my 5TH pregnancy):
Rubella: Well, all of the other times I've been pregnant, the fact that I've received the vaccine for rubella is evident in the lab report. Is this really going to change?
Blood type: Please, people. This doesn't change.
And I guess I understand why the following are tested, but I will put my life on the line and tell you that I have none of these (yes, I know that does not excuse me from it anyway, but it's still frustrating when I know what the results will reveal):
HIV: Do I need to explain why I'm sure I do not have this?
Syphillis: Again, do I need to explain?
Hep B: See above.
I know that doc is only doing her job with the last three, but I think I could at least forgo a tube or two of blood because the answers are obvious. Am I crazy? Somebody who's a nurse or doctor and is reading this, feel free to add your two cents.
This is just one shot of the nastiness. The poor lady drawing my blood (bless her heart, I felt so bad for her) said this one would leave a "scar." I wasn't sure what she meant by "scar," but I'm guessing this is close to what she meant. I can barely extend either arm fully. And for the record, she said she's been doing this for years and I was the hardest "stick" she's ever had. Ugh, I felt horrible. Not for me. I just felt bad for her because it seemed like she was feeling sorry for letting me down. But I'm no dummy. I know this is the perfect storm of me being dehydrated and inheriting bad "vein genes." I'm just puzzled as to why I was never hydrated enough. Hmmmmmmm.....................I'm really not trying to make a BI@*H session out of a glorious day of seeing our 5th child. I'm just venting a little frustration. I'm really thinking about calling the doctor tomorrow to see if we can skip a few tubes. I don't think that's unreasonable considering I'm such a hard "stick." I'll even pay for the whole dang OB panel if they'll just work with me on this one :)
You tell me. Am I crazy? (Just say no, you'll fare better if you agree with me on this one)!
Thanks to all of you who are still reading and know that I'm only an occasional Debbie Downer. And to the rest of you, don't worry. This day will be remembered for the pictures of baby # 5 and not for my crazy ranting about something as stupid as veins, blood, and OB panels!
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