I hear the shu-ka-shu-ka of a little heart

We just got back from the Doctor's office. We haven't been to the doctor since March 14. Dr. Tarek was a little upset that we didn't show up for our appointment 3 weeks ago. The first words out of his mouth were,

"Where have you been?"

He sounded like a father scolding a teenager for breaking their curfew. I was waiting for him to tack on "young lady," but he didn't. He doesn't have any nicknames for me and is always very formal. That's the complete opposite of Dr. Baxter who called me "kiddo" and "spring chicken" all the time. I never thought I'd like to be called kiddo, but compared to "Mrs. Nancy," I almost like it better.

In all honesty, I've only ever had one appointment that wasn't changed at the last minute. And that was today. The clinic has always phoned me a day before or the day of my appointment to tell me that Dr. Tarek won't be available during our scheduled appointment and that we'd have to reschedule. Today they called and asked to confirm the appointment. I was a little floored.

Probably they needed to confirm the appointment because they called three weeks ago to cancel and reschedule and then things just kept coming up and we had to cancel the last 2 appointments.

I, personally, don't think it's a huge deal. But I tend to think that going to the doctor once a month through the whole pregnancy is a little overrated. They don't even weigh me here. I just pop in, pee for them, and they take my blood pressure. I've been monitoring my own weight, though, and so far I'm about exactly the same weight I was when I was pregnant with Rachel at 15 weeks.

This week we added listening to the baby's heart beat to our routine. We were excited for that. Sometimes it's just nice to know that the baby is actually there, especially when you're not feeling very pregnant. I happen to feel very pregnant, actually, so I didn't need to hear the heartbeat to verify that there is, in fact, a baby growing inside. I feel huge already. Andrew says I'm not that big, but I didn't really start showing with Rachel until I was like 26 weeks and I feel like I'm already starting to show at 15 weeks with this one.

I guess that's normal the second time around.

Rachel and I talked about hearing the baby's heartbeat before we left for the doctor's office this afternoon. Not that I knew for certain that we'd be listening to it today, but I had a hunch.

"The doctor is going to put a tool on mommy's tummy and you'll hear the baby's heart go 'shu-ka-shu-ka-shu-ka-shu-ka.' It will sound really fast, not like yours or mommy's or daddy's. Ours go slow because we are big. Ours go 'thump-thump-thump-thump.' The baby is still very little so its heart goes fast!"

She put her head on my chest so that she could hear my heart.

Later in the doctor's office, I had to lie down to have my blood pressure taken. I don't know why since I know it's possible to take blood pressure with the patient sitting, or even standing. Then the nurse covered me with a sheet. I don't know why since I had all my clothes on. I untucked my undershirt and she moved down the waist of my pants about an inch, but they wouldn't go further because they tie up. I was about to untie them when Dr. Tarek said,

"You don't need to do that. The baby should be right here." He poked my abdomen, "The baby is right there."

He stuck the doppler right where he had poked and found the heartbeat as easy as that. He didn't even move it after he put it on my stomach and you could hear the heartbeat as clear as a bell. I've never had the heartbeat be found so quickly.

"Shu-ka-shu-ka-shu-ka-shu-ka-shu-ka," it said.

Andrew and Rachel were sitting behind the curtain (so that I could have my privacy?) but they moved the chair so that they could see around it a little better. I'm glad I had the sheet to cover my legs...which were covered in pants. I still fail to see how it provided me any extra modesty considering the doppler has to go on bare skin. The two inches of midriff I was denuding was pretty risque, I guess, so she had to cover up my ankles to make up for it...or something.

We only got to listen for a second, but I guess a second is all you need.

When I came back out from behind the curtain, Rachel came to sit on my lap again.

"What did the baby's heart say?" I asked her.

"Beep! Beep!" she answered.

Everyone thought that was pretty funny, although I guarantee that is not what it said. It said what a normal baby heart says.

It's kind of strange to think that the next time we go to the doctor's I'll be 19 weeks along. That's basically halfway!