6 weeks, 5 days: The most amazing sound

I spent most of the day wandering around in a terrified fog: palms sweaty, heart racing, butterflies in my tummy. But it was worth it. Before he even started taking measurements Dr. Reshef knew everything was fine and told me to start breathing again. I didn't believe him; the heart was beating so fast that I could barely see it (unlike last time, when 90ish beats per minute was easy to spot).

He measures gestational age from transfer, which puts me at 6 weeks, 2 days, rather than retrieval (6 weeks, 5 days). Since due dates are largely meaningless, it doesn't matter, as long as the bean looks healthy. And it does! It is measuring exactly 6 weeks, 2 days, with a heart beat of 131bpm (anything over 120 would have been good). So we are not even borderline! We were even able to hear the heartbeat -- the most amazing sound -- which is not always possible this early.

Dr. R was cautious (but optimistic): he put our ongoing chances of pregnancy loss at 15 percent for the next two weeks, when we have our next visit. But if everything looks good then, he will be confident to release us to ordinary prenatal care. Baby is expected to arrive in late April.

I feel a whole mix of emotions -- excitement, joy, fear, anticipation, anxiety. But I am hoping to enjoy the next two weeks as much as possible, preserving the worst of the anxiety for the day of the next ultrasound.

Symptom watch: still not much. I have the nose of a bloodhound, which is making life interesting. But I don't have any morning sickness to speak of, just some queasiness after eating, usually dinner. Maybe I'll get lucky?

Now for the moment you've all been waiting for: baby's first picture! The big fuzzy blob, marked by dotted lines, is the fetus. The smaller blob is the yolk sac.