And Now For Some REAL News

I had a Dr. appt today with my new Dr. who I must say, I like very very much. He's from England so he has rather a strong accent, but he was very nice and answered all my questions without hesitation - this one actually sounded like he knew what he was talking about. When I questioned him about the rash I had, that my previous Dr. said he had no idea what it was but it wasn't sinister, my NEW Dr. promptly informed me it was dermatitis, although if the rash persists (which it hasn't been) or if it comes back full force, they will do a few liver checks to make sure my liver is all working normally. Apparently funky things can happen to your organs while pregnant. Who knew?

We also got to hear the baby's heartbeat! Mum was with me the whole time and she got to hear it too - it was VERY exciting. It was a little weird at first, cause we heard my heartbeat on the doppler, then we heard the placental heartbeat, and THEN came baby's heartbeat!! It was SO fast! So Dr. is happy that the heartbeat is so strong and healthy sounding. He also measured my uterus and it's 18cm long, from the pelvic bone to my bellybutton. He's also not sure how far along I am - he thinks either 18 weeks or 20 weeks, and apparently the next ultrasound will give him a more accurate reading, who the hell knows. All I know is that I'm having a little boy, and he'll be born on Feb 16th. And don't ask me how I know that - I just do.

So my next ultrasound appt will be made for next week. I'm terribly excited about that as well because hopefully he'll be in the right spot to get a gender check. If he isn't, then unfortunately we won't know until he's born because it's going to cost me money to have subsequent ultrasounds done that aren't "necessary". Medicare only picks up the tab for the first 3 (unless there are complications warranting more) so I'm hoping he'll be in the right spot next week when I need him to be.

I also found out the private hospital nearby DOES do water births! They have a full water birth clinic where the baby is born completely underwater which I am THRILLED about, but since I'm already pregnant, I can't have this baby in that hospital because it's private and we currently don't have private insurance. And I need to not be pregnant for 12 months ANYWAY before I can go in and deliver there. So, baby #2 will be born in the private hospital, in a water tub. Of course, if we chose to forgo the whole public health system and have this one in the private hospital, it will cost us around $7000 . . . so I think I'll pass on that one for now.