10 Weeks

10 Weeks

This was a scary week. A verrrrry scary week.

I had my monthly OB appointment where they were going to check for the heartbeat with the doppler. I told Mark not to come to this appointment because it was going to be pretty quick an uneventful. Well, my OB apparently read the ultrasound reports that noted that I had a very tilted uterus [tilted towards my back]. So she wheeled in this 1980's looking machine that resembled a large R2D2 with a screen. She told me to lay back and lift up my shirt. She puts the wand on my belly and it brings up a blurry image. I don't hear a heartbeat. I panic. We lost our last baby at 9w4d. This can't be happening again. I turn to the doc and see her squinting. 

Her: "I'm pretty sure I see a flicker."

Me: "Just pretty sure?"

Her: "98% sure."

Me: "What about the other 2%?"

Her: "Let's send you across the street to get a better view at baby.

She hands me lab paperwork and on the lab order paper it reads: "unable to verify fetal heart rate. Please confirm viability."

What. The. F.

She asks me about the Nuchal Translucency scan done at 12 weeks and if I'm interested. Sure, why not? She tells me about the screening and it apparently tests for genetic abnormalities with the baby. She tells me my risk for having a child with Downs Syndrome is 1:1500, so what they will do is take a measurement of the back of the baby's neck, match it with my maternal age, and take a sample of blood. It will in turn, give me the odds that our baby has a genetic disorder. If the odds came back greater than what is the "norm", then they will do further testing.

So I go across the street with my "confirm viability" paper, and chug some water. They call me back.

That room. I hate that room even though last time had a good outcome. The tech asks me what's going on, so I tell her...my doctor is only 98% sure my baby has a heartbeat.

She puts the probe on my belly. 

"There's nothing wrong with your baby! Look!"

 178 beautiful beats per minute..

Measuring right on schedule...

And waving at me!

Life is good.