Our first doctor visit was on July 30th in Westminster. Thanks to HealthNet our doctor in the network is so far away from our home in Tustin. It is in Little Saigon section of the city. As we pulled up the office looked heavily influenced by Asian styled architecture. We entered the office and did our usual check in with the front desk, filled out some new forms and waited. We waited a bit longer than we had thought necessary, being that we had arrived early. A lady behind the desk then told us we could have waited inside the office in a separate waiting section just for our OB.
This half hallway was packed with chairs and boxes of medical supplies. It seemed like there was a delicate way to walk around to not bump into the boxes of supplies like formula, brochures and sterile gloves. About 30 minutes into waiting we got our first positive test that Jenn is 100% pregnant. We were a bit giddy about it. After a few more tests in a crowded room, Jenn and I were able to sit in an exam room.
The exam room was small but served it’s function. Amount 8 feet by 8 feet with the exam table and tons of 1980’s health posters on the wall. They were faded and torn, looks like a medical rep needs to come in and update those for them. The doctor was polite, caring and nice. She had a good bedside manner. After a few examinations, she goes “Yup you are about 7-8 weeks along” “Nothing too out of the ordinary. Congratulations! Let’s go see your baby.” My eyes did a double take. *Blink * *Blink* See it so soon?
The baby was only the size of a kidney bean at this stage, how can we find that on a sonogram this early? The doctor took us into a room and had Jenn lay down. A few quick seconds and she had found our baby. Tucked away and protected by Jenn in her lower tummy. The doctor then told us “Ahh there we go, about oh a inch or so. Yup definitely 8 weeks. Oh and look, see baby’s heart beat”. Double take again, my mouth got dry. A heart beat already? Woah! Jenn took a photo with her cell phone. This old office had some old equipment too.
Jenn and I were kind of shocked we didn’t expect to have it go this far on visit one. We thought there would be a few tests to confirm the pregnancy, a few words of guidance “Do this, don’t do that” etc. and then be out of there with a appointment to meet every few weeks to check on progress. I didn’t expect to see the little bean shaped baby. It was so amazing.
So as Jenn and I left, I thought it would be a good idea to celebrate our first doctor’s visit with a burger from The Habbit. A great burger, a good hit the spot moment, to celebrate our first photo of what will be many more for the McNeil baby. I love you Jennifer, and I love you little baby.
Jenn’s view…
We left the house with just enough time to drive across town to our first visit with OBGYN Dr. Hoang in Westminster. With our new insurance plan, we were not accustomed to this location but the staff was all very friendly. Jenn took yet another pregnancy test and for the first time, a medical professional confirmed that we are pregnant. Well just Jenn is, but we are in this together. It was nice to reconfirm what we already knew. After some blood was drawn we saw the doctor and she escorted us to an ultrasound machine. We got to SEE our baby for the very first time and saw the teeny tiny heart beating rapidly. Currently our little one is measuring a little ahead of gestation, Dr. Hoang said 9 weeks – although by our best calculation it is about 8.5. Either way that means we are due sometime in March of next year.
After our visit we celebrated with Burgers from The Habbit and a little fabric and pattern shopping at Joanns. Not sure where all the time to sew is going to come from, but it is fun to watch Jenn turn pieces of fabric into things I can wear.
