We have a heartbeat

Everything went fine today.  We have a heartbeat of 133 beats per minutes.  And the little bean is measuring two days ahead, at 7 weeks exactly.  I'm very, very relieved.

I had a meeting last night so I couldn't just sit at home and obsess.  So that was helpful.  And I did okay at work today too.  But because I had to drive to the clinic I had to drive to work.  I left an extra half hour early due to reduced lanes out of the neighbourhood and the rain.  I was fine until I started packing up my stuff at noon and then I was hit by nervous stomach.  I made quick trip to the bathroom on my way out.

I saw the same tech as for my baseline and she remembered me.  She did the abdominal u/s first and as soon as she went over my uterus she said she saw a gestational sac.  Relief point #1.  She measured everything including ovaries, the corpus luteum, blood flow to the corpus luteum ... I didn't realize this would be so extensive.  She asked me if I knew what side I ovulated from.  I didn't realize until I got home that she must have thought I was being monitored by u/s during my cycle.  Nope.  But I was right, it was from my overachieving right ovary.  I told her that I could feel it during this cycle and that after ovulation I could feel a lot of pressure from what had to be the corpus luteum.  I think it has actually been pressing on my uterus from time to time.  That sucker is over 3 inches long in one measurement so that would explain why.  And it was actually kind of cool to see the corpus luteum on the screen.  It looks like a big black void where my ovary used to be.

After that was done I got to relieve my bladder and then I had my appointment with The Wand.  She did a quick look through and found the sac and told me she saw the baby in there.  Relief point #2.  And she quickly pointed out there was a heartbeat and showed me where it was.  Relief point #3.  She pointed out all the different parts as she measured and said that the head was starting to form.  It still looks like a blob or alien life form to me at this point.  She said it is more like a grain of rice.  Yes, size wise perhaps but I don't think the little bean looks like a grain of rice.  Because of the way the wand was positioned, of course, the bean looked like it was upside down and getting a major head rush.

The ultrasound equipment was great.  It calculated everything automatically when she measured things so I immediately saw 7w0d pop up on screen for the bean when she did the 'crown to rump' measurement.  The sac measured at 7w3d.  She showed me the heartbeat pattern on screen and when she measured it the number 133 came up right away.  And what was nice is that their system was set up to take into account ovulation/IUI day and last menstrual period so if you don't have a 28-day cycle you aren't going to mistakenly be told that your bean is too small. 

I asked tech S for photos before I ran upstairs for my follow up and she was having difficulty getting them from the machine in room 4.  Something about that machine being different than the others.  But she got 4 of them that weren't crazy pixelized and brought them upstairs for me.  And what was great is that she had folded over the paper so that no one sitting in the waiting room had to see that.  How very considerate of her!

My follow up with Dr. C, head of the clinic, started a bit late but was really extensive.  Why, I don't know.  The resident came to get me and I was wondering who this dude was.  Ah, the resident.  Dr. C told me that my chances of having a take home baby based on the u/s is 95%.  Still not 100% but that number sounds really good to me.  He's referring me to an OB at the closest hospital.  He thinks this one is fab so I'm hoping my first interaction will be good.  I'm still going to ask my NP about midwives.  I haven't found a practice that covers my area of the city or the hospital closest to my house so perhaps she can help me.  I'm not quite sure what to do except meet with both and see how I feel.  Luckily in Ontario you can have either a midwife or an OB and it is covered.  And midwives have admitting privileges to certain hospitals.  And the midwives work with OBs to transfer their patients if serious issues arise but they continue to work with their clients in a supportive role. 

I got the spiel about pre-natal testing and I was told there is a less invasive screening test done around 12 weeks but I have to get the OB to order it in time.  Or I can get the NP to do it too.  I have no idea if I'll get in to the OB in time as I don't find referrals work quickly here.  I think they could tell I was feeling a little underwhelmed.  Hey, dudes!  I got pregnant twice in 3 months/cycles and the first one was a m/c.  Don't you think I'd be a little underwhelmed about this?  The resident said it best when I was searching for the right work:  emotionally cautious.  I thought, 'gee, you've seen patients like me before, haven't you?'.  When Dr. C asked how I was feeling I said I was actually feeling really well, no m/s but just tired.  He laughed.  But he told me that I'm unlikely to get m/s now since it hasn't reared its ugly head yet.  I hope so.  And he said it was fine for me to fly up to 35 weeks.  I seriously doubt I'll be flying that late into pregnancy but I am glad there is nothing keeping me from flying out on Monday for a week of work.  The OT is very helpful in getting the savings built up and for paying for necessary things between now and baby's arrival ... plus those 6 extra vials of sperm I now have saved in my name.

Dr. C asked what meds I was using.  When I told him none he seemed surprised.  Yep, no Clo.mid.  I told him the plan was to add that the next month.  He was all confused because I have PCOS and couldn't figure out how I did this without meds.  It was kind of funny to watch the gears in his head do the work on that one.  He also said that the standard practice is to keep PCOS women on metf.ormin for 10 weeks but that all the research shows that it is safe to take through pregnancy.  I already know that from my research.  (I read medical journals articles on PCOS from time to time for my own knowledge.)  This drug is my absolute life saver and I do NOT want to go off it, ever again.  The last time was a disaster.  If I can stay on it I will.  I also refuse to get off it if it means I can't breastfeed.  That would be a medically mismanaged disaster, in my opinion. 

Anyway, I ended up with the rest of the afternoon to myself and I celebrated by buying the last of my flowers to plant (8 plants) and some ice cream bars as a snack.  ;-)