Prenatal Appointment #2 - Originally Typed March 21/07

Yesterday I had my second prenatal appointment where they did the usual blood pressure, height of uterus, etc. I heard the heartbeat for the first time (always a good thing for a baby to have...) and mentioned all the symptoms I've been having that I thought meant that I was anemic. The nurse checked my bloodwork and my iron levels were fine, so she asked a bunch of questions to clarify it all. End result is that I had to go get more blood taken to check my thyroid because she thought it sounded like an issue with that, especially when I mentioned offhand (feeling silly) that I was freezing cold all the time. I never really thought that being cold could be a sign of anything, but when I got home and checked my countless medical and pregnancy books I saw it everywhere as a sign of hypothyroidism. Other than that and the extreme fatigue I don't really have any other symptoms though, but it also says that symptoms can come on really slowly over the course of years sometimes. Who knows. It would be nice to be able to fix being cold and my complete lack of motivation and energy, but I'm nervous about actually having anything to do with my thyroid because all the books say that it can affect the baby's brain development and hearing if it's left untreated long enough. I should probably throw all my medical books out, but I like knowing what's going on too much to actually do it.
I'm showing a bit more, especially when I wear maternity shirts, so I've taken to wearing a huge wool sweater that pretty much hides everything every day. Of course that's also because I'm freezing and have to wear layers just to keep remotely warm, but that's just a good excuse. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to hide it, particularly with Easter coming up, so I may have to spill the beans sometime before then. I've been having recurring dreams that I tell my mom about it and she's very unhappy or mad at me for it. Makes it all a lot easier! I think I may just send out a group email (how personal is that?) to avoid the whole big deal and hugs thing. Yech. My dislike of that gets worse with every pregnancy, but at least it's not as big a deal as with the first, so it's a little more acceptable for me to be like this :) By the fourth one I'll just be like "Oh, and by the way I had a baby last week".