A Taste of Normalcy

Since my first OB appointment at six weeks, I have not had a "normal" doctor's visit.  At every appointment, I am either being told I need additional testing, having a procedure done, or finding out some not-so-good news.  However, today I finally got a small taste of what a typical pregnant mama experiences...and I haven't stopped smiling since I strolled out of the office!!

I knew the appointment would be a good one because it started off with a fun waiting room experience...and most normal mamas can't even say that!!  While waiting patiently and looking through facebook from my iPhone, one of the dads sitting a few seats over smiled at me.  Not a creepy smile, but one of those "I-think-I-might-possibly-kind-of-sort-of-know-you" smiles.  Me, being the social butterfly that I am, struck up a conversation with him, and we discovered that we were in the same driver's education class thirteen years ago!  His wife is due just four days after me, and we enjoyed catching up and swapping pregnancy stories.  In the meantime, my assistant principal (who is due a few months before me and goes to the same doctor) walked in and joined our waiting room happy hour too!

Unfortunately, the party didn't last long because the nurse called me back for my turn.  We went through the usual routine - stand on the scale, sit down to take blood pressure, and leave a specimen sample in the restroom.  All of which looked great!  (Now you're envisioning my good looking urine, aren't you???)  My absolute favorite part of the visit came next though.  The nurse put the doppler on my ever-expanding belly, and I immediately heard the beautiful sound of lub-dubs coming from our little guy's heart.  I could have listened to that sound for hours, but evidently I wasn't the only patient in the office who wanted to hear their baby's heartbeat.  Bummer.  To wrap up the visit, Dr. Schmidt came in to my room, and we had a wonderful chat about what has been going on and all of the excitement that is to come!

This probably sounds like a boring, old doctor's visit to most of you...but to me it was the most amazing experience!  I was able to be a normal mama for a few hours and truly enjoy being pregnant and the miracle that is happening inside of me.  Lately, I feel like those most basic things have been stripped away from me, and I feel so blessed to be able to have those feelings...even if it is for just one day.