went to my first prenatal visit on Monday (12/10). my appt was at 9:30am and when i got there, they told me that the dr. was delivering a baby at the hospital and i have to come back at 1:30pm!  since i only took half a day off, i wanted to be able to see her in the morning. so they let me wait since she was on her way back to the clinic. we waited til around 10:30am. in the meantime, we saw the nurse and got our paper work filled out and had my weight and blood pressure taken.

at 10:30am, they took us to a room with an ultrasound like system and a monitor! i was so excited to see that cuz i thought i was just gonna hear the baby's heartbeat. but i actually got to see it!! the dr put the instrument in me and she pointed out the embryo and then the heartbeat on the monitor. at that time, i felt like i was acting Rachel in Friends cuz i was having a hard time seeing the heartbeat and i remember the episode of Rachel and Ross at the dr. visit for the first time and how Rachel couldn't see the embryo but pretended that she did! :) well, i didn't pretend, so the dr. asked my hubby to turn off the light and there...i saw the flickering star.... it was the most amazing and beautiful thing i've ever seen, my baby's heartbeat. (ck out the photo album to see the embryo-- which is the peanut on the left)

my dr said it does look like 8 weeks old. she didn't do any measurement of the embryo nor measure the heartbeat. she just said everything looks good. and ask me to come back in 4 weeks.

after the visit, we went to do my lab work. they took FIVE tubes of blood from me for the panal analysis! i think i almost fainted after the last one! i asked the dr. whether mercury will be tested and she said no and it doesn't have any scientific data on how mercury level can affect a fetus. so she told me to just limit my seafood intake to 2-3 meals a week! i thought that is sooo generous of her!! she even said that i can have shrimp all i want!! of course i won't go all out on seafood now that i get the ok sign. at least, i can have my seafood back without any fears!

so my next visit will be 1/9/07. in the meantime, i'll have to schedule an appt for the integrated screening which is an ultrasound exam to detect any birth defect. the dr. said that it has to been done between 10-12 weeks. i'm trying to schedule it to be around my 12 weeks so that my baby will be bigger and more visible :)

also, in the meantime, i need to request an operative report on the hysteroscopy surgery that i had 6 yrs ago for removing a polyp. the dr. said that she wants to make sure that my uterus did not get scraped too much during the procedure and that i can go through the full labor.

besides the dr. visit... i'm getting sick. :( got a soar throat yesterday. hopefully won't turn in to a cold. also, i have been throwing up before bed 2 nights in a row. very not good... i hope i can get more rest to recover...

i'm thankful that my "all-day sickness" got eased up starting last Friday. so the nausea is under control. i just got my ginger hard candy in the mail which i ordered last week from BabyCenter as well as a Psi band. i hope i won't need to put them in good use... i have been able to eat ok. lunch is better cuz there's a variety of food at our company cafe. dinner is harder cuz i don't have that luxury at home. but my hubby has been trying his best to please my palate - which is quite selective nowadays... i'm leaning toward unhealthy food lately...namely burger, patty melt, fries, hashbrown, tater tots! :P .... i can't seem to take another look at the expensive 8-grain rice which we bought during my first 2 weeks of pregnancy. the loaf of whole wheat bread is still sitting on the counter top... i wish i have more appetite for healthy food. but it seems like they make me lose the joy of eating AND give me nausea. i guess i'll try to eat more veggie and fruit for now... at least that would help my sluggish digestive system.

finally, less than a week til our first prenatal visit.... it seems like we've been waiting forever....

it's a struggle to stay at work awake for the full 8 hrs. i was dozing off at our lab mtg today around 1pm... :( i was sooo tempted to go to my car and sleep. but i tried my best to stay awake cuz i know i would feel more tired if i can't get the full 2 hr nap....so here i am, waiting for the clock to tick faster and leave here soon.

i've been feeling quite queasy today... it seems like i'm having heartburn. :( not good. i went to the cafe today to get a tray of food: dijon chicken, brown rice, vegetable soup, a piece of bread, a bag of cheddar ruffles chips... the only thing i had appetite for was the bag of chips! i only had little bites of everything else. then i got hungry again after the lab mtg. so i finished the soup around 2pm. just now, i was having some heartburn so i finished the chicken and brown rice....

my appetite is so unpreditable that i need to do some trial and error every meal (that's why i got so much food for lunch today). for some food, i get sick just by thinking about them... for some, i gag just by looking at it... then for some, i thought i would like to eat them, but when i actually put them in my mouth, there's no second bite for me...

my hubby has been a sweetie in terms of helping me find my appetite and trying to make or buy  food i have craving for. last night, we had veggie soup. i was ok with the soup. he made another plate of veggie which when i saw it, i just don't want to take a second look... my hubby was very understanding, and just took it away from my sight. then around 10pm, i was saying how i wanted to eat baby back rib or buffalo wings since i was still hungry. he went to our local grocery store right away and bought them and heated up the wings for me.... so sweet ! :)    the baby back ribs is for tonight's dinner. i hope my appetite hasn't changed and baby back ribs still sounds good to my stomach...

i can't believe i'm 6 weeks now... it seems sooooo long these few weeks, esp having my "all-day" sickness... so 2 more weeks til i hear my bb's heartbeat at my first prenatal. :)

my thanksgiving holiday was spent mostly in my pregnancy coma. :)  i can't believe how much sleep i need now. even having 8-9 hrs of sleep at night, i still need a 1-2 hr nap in the afternoon. out of all the pregnancy symptoms, i thought fatigue & sleepiness would never really hit me... i am never a nap person. even when i'm sick, i try not to nap cuz i usually can't sleep at night if i nap. but now, i can nap and still sleep. i could bearly wake up at 9am this morning after 9 hrs of sleep... i hope i can survive work this week... 4 more weeks til my company shuts down for the holiday... can't wait for another 1.5 week break... :P

told my parents last night about my pregnancy when they dropped by! :) i showed mommy a pregnancy book and it took her a while to figure it out. she was like "what's this?" ... "are you?" she was so happy for me. both mommy and daddy advised me on what food to cut out and what to eat.... i hope i can gain back my appetite soon... "all-day sickness" is very not fun... but i'm glad that even though i'm not having appetite, i'm still gaining weight. i gained back the 2lb i lost at the beginning and then some...

so far, we've told only my parents and my dear friend in LA, who is my baby's Godmother! :)  we might tell my hubby parents soon and we'll wait til after 12 weeks (1/7/08)  to tell others. still don't want too many ppl to know yet...