At nine weeks pregnant, I went in for my first doctor s appointment with my second child. My previous pregnancy ended in a miscarriage and I never heard a heartbeat.
This time I was nervous. I wanted to hear my baby s heartbeat for reassurance and I didn t. Fetal dopplers are used to hear an unborn child s heartbeat in their mother s womb are unreliable before ten weeks of pregnancy because your baby is tiny and it s hard to pick up sound waves from a heartbeat that is so small. My doctor noticed my disappointment and offered an ultrasound through a handheld device no bigger than an iPhone. It wasn t the typical ultrasound I was use to in my other pregnancies so I wasn t expecting to see much. However, my only concern at that moment was to see a visible beating heart since the chance of miscarrying drops dramatically after a detectable heartbeat.
Well, I saw my baby s heart beating and to my surprise much more. At nine weeks pregnant, which was only around 7 weeks since conception, my baby already had arms and legs. Throughout the ultrasound she didn t stop moving to which my doctor said she had never seen such an active baby in the first trimester.
My entire pregnancy she proved to be a very active baby much more than my firstborn during my first pregnancy. Today, as children my firstborn has a relaxed personality whereas my second child is full of energy. From my own experience, I truly believe they developed the beginnings of their personality while I was pregnant with them. From the moment of conception, babies are unique individuals apart from their mothers. I ve always known this but it wasn t until I lived it that I realized what an incredible, and yes sometimes difficult, journey pregnancy is for mothers.
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