We Have a Heartbeat!

After two days of bleeding that was heavier than spotting, and despite the doctor's initial exam, which resulted in his warning that "things don't look good," we have a heartbeat (and a fetal pole)!

The doctor admitted that if he'd had to make a guess based on his initial exam (simply looking at things), he would have thought I'd already passed the pregnancy. But, the ultrasound showed a heartbeat, fetal pole, and a placenta that's basically trying to set up shop very near what is considered a "blood pocket" in the uterine wall. While the placenta won't have any problem developing through the vascular area of blood, the hope, of course, is that the placenta will continue to spread until it reaches muscle tissue. The danger is the possibility that the blood may clot and pass, pulling the placenta out along with it and thus separating it from the embryo.

All the blood work he ordered last week looks good, and he said the HcG levels are even higher than he would have anticipated. The orders for now are everything just shy of complete bed rest. No working out or exercising, no long walks, no heavy lifting or other strenuous activity. I'm supposed to do what I "need to do" and rest in bed or on the couch the remainder of the time. Rather than focusing on the inconvenience of these directions, though, I'm being very thankful for what I got to hear today: the sound of my baby's heart beating inside me!

Until we go back next week for another look, we just wait. Not so easy...