10 WEEKS

By this point, the baby is about the size of a grape.

We had our first doctor's appointment (I was actually 9 weeks, 5 days at the appointment, but who's counting).  I made this appointment as soon as I had a positive ept, meaning almost a month prior.  When I called, the receptionist told me I would have to wait until I was 8 weeks and then due to appointment availability, I was going to be 9 weeks.  Maybe it's just me, but that's a LONG wait for a first time mom to wait!  Then, on the morning of the appointment, I get a phone call that my MD had been called into emergency surgery, and they needed to re-schedule.  Now I completely understand that when I am that pregnant woman with an emergency c-section, I will want my MD there as soon as possible, but the thought of delaying an appointment this important caused some serious stress.  Not to mention Cary and I had taken the day off from work!  Luckily, I got in the next Monday morning.
Cary had the day off for Veteran's Day so he was able to come, too.  As soon as I checked in, the receptionist asked if this was a prenatal visit, and I said "Um, yes."  Yep, I am pregnant, and this is really happening.  They took my weight and BP, and I peed in a cup for their pregnancy test (which I assume was positive, they never said :)
More waiting and then they took me back to see the MD.  She went over the do's and don't's of pregnancy, answered my questions, and then performed a pelvic exam and pap smear. She then told me that I'd be having an ultrasound next. I was instantly excited.  From reading and talking to friends, I thought that I might have to re-schedule for another time to have an ultrasound.  We went right into the ultrasound tech's office and got to see our baby!
Now, I should warn you this may be TMI....
I was warned by a friend who found out she was pregnant around the same time I did....the first ultrasound is trans-vaginal, not through the abdomen.  (The baby is too small to be seen through the abdomen at this point.)
The ultrasound makes it real.  I don't care how many pregnancy tests you take, the fact that you've missed periods, or have morning sickness.  Seeing your baby on an ultrasound makes it REAL!  I remember asking the tech as soon as we got in her office if we were gonna get pictures (you know me and pictures!).  I held Cary's hand throughout and still remember his smile at seeing his first child for the first time.

 

That little baby is 2.88 cm! About an inch long!

And my favorite part:  As soon as the ultrasound tech found the sac, the baby was moving around like crazy!  We could clearly see arms and legs moving in every direction.  The next miracle was the heart beat.  We saw the little chambers of the heart pulsating, and I remember asking the heart rate and Cary answered (you know he's a numbers guy). It was in the 160's...which is normal but studies say cannot predict gender :)  He/she stopped moving and the tech joked that he/she went to sleep.  She was able to take measurements and told us everything looked good. She also checked to make sure there was only one sac ;)
And no, we do not know the gender.  From what I have read, you cannot determine gender until 15 weeks at the earliest and usually 16 to18 weeks to be sure.
They later took a bunch of blood for testing and another urine sample.  The whole process probably took about 2 hours.  The best part, by far, is seeing the baby.  It will be several weeks (20!) before I get another ultrasound, so I will just have to be patient!