Little heart

Week 6, Day 2

It's official! I'm preggers. 

My period has been delayed for more than 2 weeks now. I knew I was pregnant even before taking the one-step pregnancy test (i.e. before peeing on a stick), since my period is very regular, and I can count on its punctuality as easily as counting 1 through 28. The pregnancy test was more of a formality really, since I could also feel my body changing with the usual pregnancy symptoms: breast tenderness, fatigue and nausea.

I had my first Ob-Gyne visit yesterday - a doctor recommended to me by my dermatologist, who is also a young mother - just so I could get a pre-natal check-up, make sure everything is ok, and to get advice on what to do next and what vitamins to take.

She confirmed how far along I was (6 weeks, 1 day), prescribed some folic acid, and sent me off to the Women's Health Center for a TVS (transvaginal ultrasound). The Ob-Gyne Sonologist assured me that a TVS is still allowable in the first trimester - I always thought that you get those external ultrasounds on the belly, when you're pregnant.


The Ultrasound

She pointed out the baby to me: a little sesame seed-sized bugger in my uterus. ♥ Everything seems normal, she said:

• The crown rump length was 0.35 centimeters, equivalent to 6 weeks
• Normal ovaries
• No sub-chorionic hemorrhage 

But she pointed out that the heart rate (the little sesame seed has a heart already! Awww!) is slow at 95 beats per minute. :(  Then she assured me by saying that it's normal to have a heart rate below 100 at this stage. But I wasn't assured at all.

I proceeded to scour to internet for any information regarding "normal fetal heart rate - weekly"  and found the following:

• Week 5 starts at 80 and ends at 103 bpm
  
• Week 6 starts at 103 and ends at 126 bpm
  
• Week 7 starts at 126 and ends at 149 bpm
  
• Week 8 starts at 149 and ends at 172 bpm
  

My baby's bpm was 8 beats slower than normal. :( And when I went to the Ob-Gyne the next day to show her the results, she confirmed that she would have liked the heart rate to be at least 110 bpm. She didn't want to give me false hope, or give me negative vibes altogether, so she prescribed for me to take progesterone (nutrients for the baby), and instructed me to think positive.

Maybe my baby is just like me: slow at the start, but becomes a veritable powerhouse once warmed up. :) Hoping for the baby to have a faster heart rate (126 bpm and above, please) when I go back for another TVS next week. ♥