The 7 Week Ultrasound

On June 17, Nate and I went in for our 7 week ultrasound. The room was big and dark, with a large monitor on the wall and a sign politely asking that all recording devices be put away. This was funny to me because I imagine this type of warning is generally required for people like my husband (hey, proud parents love videotaping their kids, right?) I was so excited for this appointment but I found myself becoming more and more nervous as we waited. I had gone in for HcG (pregnancy hormone) testing when I was about five weeks along to make sure the levels doubled every 48 hours, which they did. So, at that point we'd been relieved to know it was definitely headed in the direction of being viable.

Here we were two weeks later with the knowledge that pregnancies can be very fragile, especially this early on...but hoping with all our hearts that everything was still okay with our baby. The sonographer came in and within a minute or two, glanced at us and said, "Look at the little heartbeat." This was so amazing. A few weeks earlier, a baby was just a dream to us. Almost overnight, it materialized into this being, with its little heart pumping away while we stared and smiled. The heart rate was a healthy 133 beats per minute, and we were assured that everything looked normal.

I asked the tech to double check (pun intended) for twins. My brothers are twins so that increases our chances for multiples a little bit. My friend Nikki is pregnant with twin boys right now and was VERY surprised (pleasantly of course) to learn that she was having twins at her 20 week ultrasound. One of them was out of sight during her 8 week scan. Good luck beating that little guy at hide and seek someday, Nikki! The sonographer confirmed there was only one little guy or gal in there and we were sent home with our first pictures of Baby O. I can't even guess how many times I've looked at those pictures...surely enough times to know that I already feel like a proud mama.