Sore Arm

You’d have one too if you’d had six vials of blood drawn. And the lab nurse missed my vein on the first go, so after moving the needle around and having no luck, she tried again with the butterfly needle and hit the jackpot.

Yesterday was my first OB appointment with my new doctor. Except I didn’t see my new doctor. Here’s the story…

To set a good example for everyone, my new OB got a mammogram to promote October as breast cancer awareness month. Last Thursday, she was diagnosed with Stage 0 ductal carcinoma in situ – a very early, but contained, stage of breast cancer. She will be having a double mastectomy on Wednesday, in order to get it all now and will hopefully not have to do any chemotherapy. She plans on having reconstructive surgery as well. To say that the staff is emotional about it is an understatement. The nurse nearly cried when talking to me about it, and I felt like crying myself.

So, I met the doctor covering for her while she’s on medical leave. The replacement doctor was very nice, but I was her second patient on her first day, and she had no idea where to find things – which was actually quite humorous. Still, she brought in the hand-held ultrasound monitor, put some gel on my abdomen, and went baby hunting.

And… there he/she was. ONE baby. (whew) One little heartbeat that was almost impossible for my untrained eyes to pick out on the screen, but the doctor said she was satisfied with what she saw, so I’m fine with it.

After that little slice of wonder, it was time to get prodded, swabbed, and then stuck with a couple of needles to run my first set of labs. Woo-hoo. Good thing I’m not needle-phobic. Or squeamish about blood, like a certain teenage sister of mine is.

Now that we know that this new little one is a reality for us, the question is – when do we tell Ane? Miss Oblivious has no idea what the word “pregnant” means, so we are constantly talking about things over her head. And so long as we continue to spell out B-A-B-Y, she’s not paying any attention. I’m only ten weeks, so it’s not like it’s physically obvious to her.

At this rate, the longer we can put off telling her, the better. Not because she’ll react badly, but because we will keep hearing “How much longer till the baby comes?” repeatedly and often. Time moves quite slowly for a not-quite five-year-old.

I’ve already scheduled an ultrasound for December. Maybe we should just wait until the night before, tell her, take her along (Tad’s in school that day) and let her find out along with us what the baby is. Of course, if it is another boy, she might get really upset right there in the office. She’s been very clear in the past that she wants a baby SISTER. I have no idea how she would react to another boy.

Everyone, hold your breath.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 1:47 am and is filed under Children, Mommyhood.
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