Heart Beat

I'm 15 weeks pregnant now and on Tuesday I had an antenatal appointment with my doctor. Stupidly, I forgot all my notes, which I don't think my doctor was very pleased about. I will have to put a reminder in my phone to bring them to every appointment in the future.

I thought she was going to ask for a blood test or urine sample, but all she did really was take my blood pressure (fine) and asked me to lay down on the bed so she could feel my tummy. 

She took out this small microphone type contraption from get desk and turned it on. It was a Doppler scanner and made a horrible static noise. But when she put it on my abdomen, I could hear lots of weird gurgling noises. As she moved it lower, we heard a rhythmic rushing noise.

'Thats the placenta' the doctor said. 'We might not be able to pick up the baby's heartbeat yet because the microphone head is so small, but that's a reassuring sound. The baby will be fine if we can hear the placenta push the blood through.'

Still, she moved the microphone again and suddenly, there the heartbeat was. A rapid, but distinct little heartbeat. The doctor looked at me and smiled. 

Hearing my baby's heartbeat for the first time was amazing. My eyes welled up. I thought I was going to cry. Gently, my doctor helped me up and patted my back lightly. 

Leaving the surgery, I eagerly called J to share the experience with him, but I was also disappointed that he wasn't there to hear it for himself. Hopefully he will get a chance later on in the pregnancy. 

I can't wait to see and hear our baby again!