Herpetology
E and I try to start our days by stretching and sharing three things we're grateful for. It's a habit we fall in and out of throughout the year, coming back to it when we remember or particularly need it.
We were stretching and sharing regularly in early November and one morning E said he was grateful that I'd gotten into herpetology.
"What's herpetology, again?" I asked.
"The study of reptiles," he told me with a grin. We both started giggling.
I'd had an appointment with my ob-gyn the previous week and gotten my first ultrasound. I was six weeks pregnant and I thought the embryo looked like a "weird little lizard."
When I left the appointment, that's exactly what I texted E: "I got to see the weird little lizard looking thing that's going to be our baby!!!"
He replied: "WHOA"
"LIZARDS ARE COOL"
Since then, we've referred to our tiny human-to-be as "the little lizard."
If you've been pregnant in the US or know someone who has, an ultrasound at only 6-weeks probably sounds a bit strange. For whatever reason, vaginal ultrasounds are much more commonly used in German gynecology than they are in the US, so, I've gotten to see a sonogram image of our little lizard at every appointment. My doctor points out the flickering pixels that indicate the heartbeat every time and it never gets old.
Because of COVID, I'm not allowed to bring anyone with me to these appointments, which is understandable, if disappointing.
Tomorrow I have an appointment at a different doctor's office than usual. At this point, I'm 12-weeks pregnant and so I'm getting a first trimester screening with a prenatal testing center to check for abnormalities in the fetus. This probably isn't necessary. There's no reason to expect that the fetus is in any way 'abnormal,' and so it's mostly for my peace of mind/to collect as much data as possible about the little lizard. It's also all non-invasive. I had my blood drawn two weeks ago and I'll get the results tomorrow and if a chromosomal abnormality seems likely, well, then we might be looking at some more invasive testing. But there's no sense worrying about it preemptively.
I mention all of this because a nice side effect of opting into this screening is that E will (hopefully!) get to come with me. The prenatal testing center allows patients to bring someone with them (as long as that person is vaccinated and tests negative on a rapid test), which means that I won't be alone at this appointment and E will get to see the little lizard in real time! I also think this will be my first 'normal' ultrasound, where they put the wand on my belly, but we shall see. Maybe E will get the pleasure of experiencing a vaginal ultrasound with me, ha.
I don't intend for On / Off to become a pregnancy-focused newsletter, but I will let you know how tomorrow's screening goes. And I'm sure I'll write about my continued adventures in herpetology over the coming months. Thanks for reading!