15 week checkup

Thursday marked 15 weeks. I got an email telling me the baby was now the size of an apple. Wow!! It's so exciting to know what's going on inside me as the baby grows. Richard and I have been praying every night that the baby and I will be healthy throughout the pregnancy and labor.

I also went to the Doctor on Thursday. It was a typical checkup. We heard the heartbeat again, and everything was progressing well. I still haven't gained weight. This seems funny to me because my pants are getting tight. We also asked about getting an ultrasound in order to find out the baby's gender in a few weeks. This is where I got a little upset. Here's the story...

A month ago, during our last doctor visit, we told the doctor we would not be doing any additional testing. You see, they had recommended doing genetic testing along with some other additional tests which all tell you the "risk" of your baby having some disorder. The tests come by way of blood test, ultrasound and maybe something else that I'm forgetting. After talking to the doctor, we determined it was unlikely (given our health, family history and age) that there would be any risk, and even if there was a risk, we wouldn't really change anything we did during the pregnancy. Now, a month later, we asked about when we would be able to know the gender of the baby. The doctor told us that she never does an ultrasound without some medical reason, and definitely not JUST to know the gender of the baby. Since my pregnancy is going well, she doesn't feel the need to do another ultrasound. She told me if I want to know the gender, I could do the additional testing we spoke of a month ago, and at the same time they could look for the sex of the baby. I was shocked! Our doctor basically refused to let us know the gender of the baby unless we pay more for some extra test that we don't want. Is that normal?!?! I guess we'll end up doing the additional testing, but only the ultrasound and not all the blood work. I'm just frustrated that our doctor won't do a simple check for he sex of the baby. Grrrr.