1st Appointment & Very Hopeful

We had our first appointment with the nurse practitioner this afternoon. The appointment consisted of a PAP (getting my lady bits checked out - everything was a'okay), going over our family history of diseases and then blood work. The appointment went smoothly and she did try to find the heartbeat after warning us that it is early and we told her we understand and that we didn't hear it with our son at this point. Well this little baby is following in her/his brother's footsteps because we did not get to hear the heartbeat. She tried for about 10 minutes but the doppler in the room we were in was really staticy and she couldn't find it. OH well! I'm not showing any signs of miscarriage and when she was doing the PAP she said everything looked good, so my cervix is closed and she said there's nothing to worry about. Our first ultrasound is scheduled for next Thursday, 4/12 at 10:15 a.m. so we'll get to see the little bean and will definitely get to see and hear the heartbeat then because the ultrasound equipment is much more high tech than the dopplers they have in the rooms.

Additionally I've very hopeful for a successful VBAC because the nurse practitioner said/asked "So you're going for a VBAC right?" and not "So are you going to attempt a trial of labor and hope for a VBAC?" which encourages me because this means she at least is supportive. I used that as an opener to ask some questions about it and how things are working now that they are using both midwives and hospitalists on the unit in addition to the attending physician. They always had the midwives but the hospitalists are new and there are two of them, one on days and one on nights so there is always a doctor there for any situation that arises instead of one on-call attending which means better coverage for all patients. I also asked her the tough question of who I should see that is definitely supportive of VBACs and she reassured me that they are all supportive of VBACs and recommended the doctor that did my c-section last time so we'll definitely be seeing her, the other surgeon that helped with my c-section is now one of the two hospitalists so it is very likely I'd have one or both of them available while I'm there in labor which is also comforting.

So now we'll be looking forward to next week's ultrasound and I'm going to start doing more research on exercises and other ways to better my chances physical of having a successful VBAC.