2nd Doctor's Appointment

Today I had my official second appointment with Dr. Maier, my perinatologist, who, to review, is basically an ob/gyn who works with mommies and babies who have some sort of loser complication or deficiency. In my case it is a) being 35 and b) being a 20-year type 1 diabetic. I am tired of thinking about all of the shit-ass complications that diabetic mommies have, not to mention their gestating wormies (as Elly would say) or wombies (as Magnolia would say), so I am practicing something that doesn't come very naturally to me, the Lutheran-rooted Midwesterner Berkeley transplant: optimism. I try to do as much as I can and think nice thoughts and get on with my life. Lately the nice thought has been "Baby, baby, baby, baby," which will not stop repeating itself in my head. It's like this obsessive stupid mantra. Imagine it being said by a benign Sendak-like monster on the hunt for a chicken salad sandwich, and that is about how it sounds in my head.

Anyway. Second appointment in WC today with Maier, Sharon, the pump specialist who works with diabetic moms, and Kimmy (I think that's her name), who is a dietician. They hrmed and hawed over my logbook and basal and bolus rates and ultimately upped by basal rates by .2 units/hour and reduced by carb/insulin ratio. We shall see. It is so horrible to sit there without any pants on while they go over my books and dicker with my insulin pump. They're very sweet, but it's unnerving. I've always been a bad test taker and this pregnancy feels a lot like a 9-month-long test; at least it does when I'm in the doctor's office.

Then I got to have my first ultrasound, and the wee babe is 9 1/2 weeks right now, about an inch long, and has little visible arm and leg buds. And, I got to see it move. The little wriggler moved and stretched and flexed and that was sure exciting.

I really like Dr. Maier. He has this kind of zen-like office presence; he's a man of few words but he makes me feel calm and taken care of, which is much preferable to chatted up and annoyed. My next appointment is 3 weeks from now. I will be officially at 12 weeks (blessings be, god willing) by then, so hopefully things will all be progressing perfectly and I will still be feeling as good as I do now.

Lots of exercise this past week, too, including my prenatal pilates class with Kristin (she's kicking my ass with a vengeance, and I love it) and several Tilden hikes with the dogs, as well as the normal hill walking and neighborhood strolls with the pups, which, thanks to the staircases, always gets my heart pumping. I need to start a yoga class and add a stretching routine into the morning hours. It's hard to do so, though, without getting mauled by the puppy.