Two Ultrasounds in 3 Weeks

My periods have never been regular.  Well, regular in normal doctor speak.  Instead of 28 or so days in between cycles, I normally went about 70 days between periods.  This was the main reason we sought fertility testing when we'd only been trying for 7 months.  Doctors and websites all suggested something was most certainly wrong with a woman with that many days between periods, so being the nervous Nelly I am, i wanted to check everything before the one year mark.

Since my previous periods were in January and then in the beginning of March, our midwife wanted to check the fetal age with an ultrasound at what I assumed was my 5 weeks mark.  I started charting my basal temperature in June of 2010, so I knew I had ovulated around April 14th.  First ever ultrasound, and Patrick and I were both nervous, but mainly excited about what we would see on that screen.

Unfortunately, all we saw was the gestational sac and the yolk sac.  No fetal pole was detected.  Which, at 5 weeks, was perfectly normal.  But from my last period, they were counting me at 9 weeks.  We were sent home with talk of a blighted ovum and a rescheduled ultrasound in three weeks time.

I'm sure I don't have to tell any of you the distress this caused.  Even though I knew in my head I had to be only about 5 weeks, I was terrified that the fertility doctor's words were going to ring true.  That we had conceived a baby, but that I had lost it already.

The next three weeks were torture.  Each day consisted of praying and begging.  But, just like before when we were trying to conceive, a peace came over me.  And I felt that everything was going to be alright.  God's will would be done, and whatever He sent me, I would be strong enough to withstand.

The day of the ultrasound, I was so nauseated I could barely stand it.  Head between my knees, Patrick rubbing my back, I could barely walk to the back when they called us in.  Until she put the goop on my belly, pressed the probe against my abdomen, and we saw the little bean appear on the screen, tiny heart blinking wildly.

Nothing can ever prepare you for how wonderful that feels, knowing that you are carrying a baby, and that it is healthy and developing normally.  I think we both breathed a deep sigh of relief.

Baby Cakes was proclaimed 8 weeks and 4 days old on that day, Tuesday, May 29th.