1st ultrasound

I had an appointment with the nurse a few weeks ago to establish care. Since I am considered a high risk pregnancy I am being followed by complicated OB so centering care (group education appointments where they call each women out individually for weighing, ect) is out of the question for me. In addition I will be followed by a doctor rather than a nurse midwife. I know some moms are in a situation have care by a midwife, very little medical intervention and do home births. I admire that, my own mother was born at home but given my prior 26 week gestation delivery this is not an option for me. In fact I would rather deliver at a hospital that is equipped to deal with newborns that require high acuity care than deliver at home without the trained medical professionals. I was told that any pregnant women high risk or not should not lift anything over 25 lbs. My doctor today said that in some countries pregnant women carry their other children in baby carriers while working and there has been no link between carrying another kid while pregnant and premature labor or delivery. He did however say to not over exert myself. This is the same doctor that delivered Abe so he knew some of medical conditions and inquired if he will ever walk. Abe sure has came a long way. Based on the ultrasound today I am only 7 weeks 6 days instead of 8 weeks 4 days but my due date is still July 25th. I did not hear the heart beat but the doctor said he saw it and confirmed there is definitely a baby in there and only one so no twins. We decided that we will do the full work up for birth defects, well the extra ultrasounds and blood tests not the amniocentesis since the risk of labor and infection are high. I know that we may get a false positive since I am 38 and I will worry myself to death. With Abe we never bothered with this however given our prior history of having a medically fragile 2 lb baby but we want to know so that proper referrals to professionals and/or if a hospital set up with a high acuity NICU will be required. This additional ultrasound and blood work is only offered at Madigan. Childbirth and pregnancy are a natural part of life and have been for thousands of years however it has not always been an easy task or normal thing for every single mother out there. I mentioned the nausea and vomiting and my doctor did not recommend ginger chews so he prescribed vitamin B6 and Zofran. I will require more frequent appointments than the average course of pregnancy. Starting at week 16-36 I will require progesterone shots to prevent premature labor and delivery. I know at least one of my friends that had progesterone shots and she delivered a healthy baby girl that was full term, her first full term baby too,all her other 4 kids were premature but healthy kids. She was not happy with the weight gain but is thankful for no NICU stay or having to take a 2 month old back to the hospital for inpatient care. There are no guarantees this baby will be stay inside the womb until full term. There is a huge difference in development between a 34 weeker and a 26 weeker. The progesterone shots require weekly visits but with the nurse only. I asked if there is potential for bed rest and this would only happen if I had contractions or signs of premature labor. Sure hope we have a girl growing because Abe already calls her by her nick name but if we have a boy that is wonderful too. We would need to reteach a name to him. He gives the baby high fives and kisses. It is so cute. He will make a great big brother to either a sister or a brother.