Thursday, March 02, 2006
The good news: I’m pregnant! The bad news … well, I’m trying to focus on the good news now. Which is that we’re pregnant! No needles, drugs, or being impregnated in a roomful of strangers, erotic though that may seem!
Monday, we were in the depths of suspended-animation hell. Last week, two office visits had failed to show a heartbeat in the little nib of a thing growing in my uterus. Dr. L, always a hopeful guy, took some blood tests. My HCG level went up, but not as much as it should have.
So Big Big Man and I had steeled ourselves for our visit on Monday to talk about D&Cs and genetic testing and trying again. But there, on the ultrasound screen, was a little sparkle. A heartbeat. A good heartbeat, strong and fast and regular. I felt like high-fiving Big Big Man, who was standing next to me holding Little Big Man.
Based on the embryo’s itsy-bitsy size, 2 millimeters, Dr. L put its age at five weeks and five days.
Some things are still strange. Those HCG levels, for one. The yolk sac, for another. It was disappearing on Monday, much sooner than it should be. That may not mean anything, Dr. L said – it’s just unusual. But I think the heartbeat didn’t show up just because it was too soon. I sure hope it sticks around.
Monday, we were in the depths of suspended-animation hell. Last week, two office visits had failed to show a heartbeat in the little nib of a thing growing in my uterus. Dr. L, always a hopeful guy, took some blood tests. My HCG level went up, but not as much as it should have.
So Big Big Man and I had steeled ourselves for our visit on Monday to talk about D&Cs and genetic testing and trying again. But there, on the ultrasound screen, was a little sparkle. A heartbeat. A good heartbeat, strong and fast and regular. I felt like high-fiving Big Big Man, who was standing next to me holding Little Big Man.
Based on the embryo’s itsy-bitsy size, 2 millimeters, Dr. L put its age at five weeks and five days.
Some things are still strange. Those HCG levels, for one. The yolk sac, for another. It was disappearing on Monday, much sooner than it should be. That may not mean anything, Dr. L said – it’s just unusual. But I think the heartbeat didn’t show up just because it was too soon. I sure hope it sticks around.
