THE FIRST STEPS

What have I learnt??

28 weeks in and I have to say I have learnt a lot so far.

From juggling those first 12 weeks of no-one knowing (which happened to coincide with a close friends wedding just days after finding out, my 30th birthday and my work's Christmas night out), to attending the all exciting scans and the first of many routine midwife appointments . So let's start from the very beginning...

My First Appointments

After taking the tests and discovering I was pregnant I didn't really know what I was meant to do next.

Who do you call.. not Ghostbusters that's for sure! So I rang my GP and made an appointment to figure out the necessary first steps of pregnancy.

I was already 4 weeks pregnant at this point, but again I felt I needed an 'official' confirmation. I went along with my boyfriend in tow and told the Dr that I had taken a pregnancy test and had got a positive result (no, I didn't confess to actually taking three tests). The Dr was lovely, I guess it makes a nice change to have a happy patient and not a sick one. She took all my details and filled out a referral form for the midwives, and said they would be in touch to arrange a 'Booking In' appointment and my 12 week scan.

But there was no other testing done, no sample required. My word was simply evidence enough!! Then I found out that your first scan is not just to check everything is progressing as it should and for you to finally see the little baby that you've been secretly nurturing for weeks. Your first scan is actually used to confirm the pregnancy!

WHAT!

As soon as I knew this, the panic alarms went off. I wouldn't know for a further 8 weeks whether I was actually pregnant or not, which made this exciting time just a little bit daunting. The weeks passed and I went for my booking in appointment at the hospital, which felt like mission impossible as we both knew people who worked there. We answered all the questions, they took a blood sample and I had gone with a urine sample.

Well I may as well have walked in with NOVICE or NEWBIE stamped on my forehead. Being a first time mum and someone who is rarely sick, I didn't know what to put my sample in and so I took it in a nice little tupperware box.. which happened to leak! Whoops! At least I gave the midwife a laugh as I handed over the sandwich bag containing my little box of wee, well what was left of it **oh the shame**.. (don't worry though, now I get a proper container from the dr's before I go).

A few weeks later and the time had come.. it was time for our first scan. A bundle of nerves and excitement we sat in the hospital eagerly waiting to see our baby. After polite chit chat with the radiologist I got on the bed and she began to scan my tummy. I couldn't see the screen at first though and lay there watching my boyfriend instead who had a prime view at the end of the bed. I could see him watching intently whilst I waited impatiently to see whether or not there was a baby in there after all... then she turned the screen and there it was.

A tiny little baby.

It was finally official. I was pregnant with my first baby and it was the best feeling in the world!!

xXx

Some things to remember:

• The gel is not actually that cold - the tv programmes lie haha

• You don't actually hear anything - I thought you would hear the heartbeat or the sound of the womb or well anything really, but thats not for another few weeks yet, so go in prepared for visuals only.

• You have to pay for the photos. This varies by hospital but mine were 2 for £5.

#12weekultrasound #pregnancytest #bookinginappointment