New Doctor, New Ultra Sound

Per my last entry, I was planning on seeing a new doctor with a new hospital. I've been really excited about this decision, even more so after going to my previous doctor's office to transfer my records and dealing with "old sour face" (That's not very nice, I know). 

It's been a while since my last ultra sound and with all that was going on with baby B from the beginning, I was worried about not having an update to see how they were doing and I was worried that baby B wasn't doing well. 

I loved that the office was smaller, which to me means "more personable". I filled out the usual paperwork which I've become a pro at, and luckily I didn't have to wait long...which was also very different than what I was used to. 

I don't think the scale they weighed me on was accurate, but I thought it was a nice touch that it automatically made me 10 lbs lighter. After doing all my vitals, the nurse's assistant told me that the nurse practitioner would probably want to do a cervix exam, so to undress from the waist down after she left. I didn't think this was an unusual request, I haven't had to strip down since Dr. Robbins, but hey, different doctor - different procedures.

So I did as she asked and don't you love that the "apron" they give you is basically an over-sized tissue? Well, the nurse practitioner, who I would see in lieu of the doctor today, came in and her first response was "Oh....well you're not wearing any pants..." I'd like to say that this was the first time something like this has happened, but it's not. She obviously didn't get the memo and wondered why I was waiting for her half dressed.

I said, "It's not like this was my idea, I don't normally choose to take my clothes off for strangers." That's always an awkward situation, but lucky for me, I was able to put my clothes back on without an exam. Also lucky for me, they squeezed me in to get an ultra sound. I guess they hadn't planned on doing one on the initial visit, but were super accommodating. 

So this was the most exciting part, of course. A part of me was sure that one of them wasn't going to be doing well, but I'm glad to be wrong. They were both super active and were moving around a ton! Baby A was doing somersaults and headstands - quite literally as you can see in the picture to the right. 

Baby B was waving her arm like crazy! I'm sure they're hamming it up for the camera =).I feel certain that baby A is my boy, and baby B is my girl...I hope they don't resent me if I'm wrong.

As I was laying on the table during the ultra sound, I got so emotional. I couldn't believe how much they were moving and how real they looked. I could see their little hands and their little legs and feet. I could see their noses. It was extremely overwhelming, but in a good way. All the ultra sound techs had gathered around the screen and were laughing at how much baby A was moving. 

We are going to be doing some testing on Monday in a separate clinic; mainly to test for cystic fibrosis and down syndrome. I'm sure everything is going to be fine, but it's just for peace of mind. 

So I am about 12.5 weeks at the moment, and my two little babies are the size of a peach. I should be able to find out the genders in another 6 weeks. I'm head-over-heals in love with these two and I can't wait to meet them! 

It's a March 25 Miracle!!

When I first got pregnant, I wasn't sure which OB/Hospital I should go to for my pregnancy. I asked a lot of people and was surprised that a lot of them didn't remember where they went or why they went there. A lot of the women I asked didn't even give birth in Spokane, so that didn't help much either.

I figured that the Valley hospital was super convenient, but the experiences that Cam and I have had there compared to the horror stories I've heard from other pregnant women and the fact that they're not equipped for high-risk pregnancies scared me a little.

My records were already at the Valley OB/GYN, and I had heard great things about Dr. Brown so I figured that I'd give it a try. I will say, Dr. Brown was super kind and a great listener. He asked a lot of questions and I felt safe with him (which isn't an easy thing for me when it comes to male doctors).

With that said, Dr. Brown was really the only thing going for that place. The receptionist was a bully and although I know that I'm a somewhat sensitive person, I was genuinely afraid to call in. When on the phone, the woman would ask me questions and then say, "That's NOT what I asked you", and then would ask me a different question to which she'd reply "And???" if I wasn't telling her fast enough. It was more pressure than I wanted from an OB/GYN clinic.

Aside from the crazy, hormonal receptionist, I couldn't shake off the feeling that the Valley was not where I was supposed to be. Whenever I would think about delivering at the Valley, I would panic and get super anxious.

I decided to ask friends and friends of friends who had twins, who they went to and why they liked it. I received a lot of great advice that I greatly appreciated! Most of the women went to Sacred Heart, a lot of them tried out other hospitals and didn't exactly hate them, but their experiences at SH were 10X better. A lot of them said that it was great that the Children's Hospital was just upstairs (which I didn't even think about), as well as the NICU.

I had several recommendations for doctors which again, I really appreciated (I have no idea what I'm doing)! I decided to go with Dr. Satterfield with OB/GYN Associates of Spokane. It's a smaller office made up mostly of women (I feel bad that that's part of what I liked the most), they deal specifically with high-risk/twin pregnancies (another bonus), and they're affiliated with Sacred Heart. Another bonus is that Dr. Satterfield has twins herself.

I was really excited about my choice and felt super great about it; However when I called, the soonest they could see me was the 15th of April (the receptionist was super nice though =)). I've already gone almost a month without seeing anyone and the idea of waiting even longer really scared me. I was feeling super frustrated about that, but figured I'd go see Dr. Brown on the 2 and then the new doctor on the 15, just so I had an appointment in between.

With that said, I decided to call them this morning to see if they had a cancellation and they did!!! I get to see them as early as this Thursday. I'm so excited and I feel confident that this is the right place for me. I'll keep you all updated!

2014 San Francisco Vacation

To look at our pics, you can just click on one and go through the slide-show. They look better enlarged.

We left for San Francisco last Sunday extremely early. We didn't really sleep before we left at 1:50am. It was daylight savings, so we skipped 2am and went on to 3. It may not look like it from here, but the plane between Spokane and Seattle was ridiculously small - luckily we survived.

I already get pretty sick when I fly, but being pregnant made it a million times worse!! It was extremely brutal. I was so excited when we landed in San Fran, mostly due to the fact that my feet were on solid ground. We rented our first rental car and our first stay was at the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf hotel. It was in a great location right on the pier and we had a great view of the city from our window.

On Monday, we left our hotel to get a morning Jamba Juice which was supposed to be a couple minutes away, when all of a sudden we found ourselves in downtown SF. I am not a city person at all!! Sometimes I really wish I was, but I get so unbelievably overwhelmed in large crowds or tight spaces, and the smell of urine on the sidewalk (it was icky).

We thought we'd try to go to a museum, but all of them were closed. We finally escaped into a mall for a while. I was happy to get back to our hotel after that.

On Tuesday, we made our way out to Alcatraz. We both really enjoyed this visit, and found it extremely interesting...I really like anything historical, so there's no surprise there.

Golden Gate Bridge from Alcatraz

View of SF City Skyline from Alcatraz

Alcatraz Light House

Afterwards, we walked along the pier and visited pier 39. We ate at the Pier Market Grill and then went out and watched the seals/sea lions on the pier...who knows what they are?

On Wednesday, we made our way down to Monterey. The hotel we stayed at was right on the ocean with beautiful views! Last night, we watched the sun set from beach. It was gorgeous!

On Wednesday afternoon, we went out to some questionable Chinese food (we tried 3 different Chinese restaurants based on 4/5 star reviews and they were all super awful!) and then we walked down to the pier and looked out over the water. There was this otter that was really hamming it up in the water. I think he knew he had an audience. 

On Thursday, we visited the Aquarium. We loved it! The baby otters were super adorable and unfortunately, I didn't get a good pic of them. 

On Friday, we tried out this small sandwich shop in Monterey. I LOVE sandwiches, love, love, love!!!!

"Oh Jenny, do you still walk, do you still get into sandwiches in a big, big way?!"

We made our way to Carmel. This was one of my favorite parts of this week. The beach was gorgeous and so peaceful! There were amazing views and the waves were really large. We sat on the beach and watched the waves hit the sand. There were so many beautiful moments and I couldn't capture enough of them. 

This was a small inlet from the Ocean - everything was so colorful.

There were so many different kind of birds around the area.

The Ocean was a perfect bluish green.

My Love!

Our new friend...Seriously, it hung out with us the whole time.

I would have read more with Cam, but I was so distracted by everything else. His book seemed really interesting though.

The birds gathered in groups on the sand and every once in a while they'd all fly up...and then finally settle back down.

We spent a really long time there, it was bit windy which made it chilly, but I just didn't want the moment to end.

Saturday was my favorite day! Cam planned it all, which was a nice bonus and he took me along the 17 mile drive of Pebble Beach. It was breathtaking and my kind of heaven!! I was so content and in my element there, I didn't want to leave!

A thick fog sank in toward the end of our drive. It was so weird! It was all sunny and complete blue skies, and then cloudy, overcast, and windy.

On the far side, there was a baby seal with it's mama. It was adorable!!

The colors were beautiful!

This really kind old couple offered to take our picture.

It was an amazing visit, but we're both glad to be home. We really missed Bruno, our bed, and specifically my pillow. Pregnancy has been difficult when it comes to sleeping.