Week 12: End of first trimester

I had the last of my "long" appointments today with my GP (now OB I suppose). Same routine as usual... pee in this cup, let's take your blood pressure, and let's weigh you. All these things were normal and acceptable. The nurse tried to guess my new weight before I got on the scale and came very close. From the beginning of the pregnancy to now (the very end of the first trimester), I have gained 12 lbs. Apparently, this means I can expect to gain about 40lbs. by the end of the line, which my GP says is normal and acceptable. But it's strange to step on the scale and weigh a weight I've never weighed before. I am sitting at 161 lbs (in the morning). Apart from the usual, I had a physical. All is shipshape. I learned that my former surgery will not interfere with anything and what's more, pregnancy is likely to make future similar operations less probable. So hooray for that. Finally, I got a first chance to listen to the baby's heartbeat with a doppler device. It took her a while to get a good angle, but eventually she succeeded. Apparently, the placenta is often on the anterior wall of the uterus, and it can muffle the sound of the baby's heart. I knew it was a fast heartbeat, but it is one thing to be told its speed, and it is another thing entirely to actually hear it beating. There is always some part of the doppler machine sound that sounds like the ocean (a little), and over that, this rapid boom, boom, boom sound, with the slower boom (mine) in the background. I wish Greg could have been there, but he attended one of the first meetings and we decided that the next one he would take time off work to go to would be the next ultrasound. The next ultrasound is at 18 weeks and takes place on Friday, August 5th. I am already taking that week off in anticipation of Elizabeth being home from Taiwan for a visit, so maybe Greg won't be the only person to come see an ultrasound that actually looks like a baby and not a smudge. If the baby is turned in the right direction, it will be possible to determine the gender.