Week 7 Scare

On Tuesday I finally got to see Ziggy on the ultrasound! S/he look like a small bean curled around the round yolk sac. S/he's only 7.5 mm long, but already has a heart beat of 156 bpm! I could actually see the flickering/pulsing of the heart. My progesterone was measured at 37.7, so it's still increasing slightly. Dr. M said everything looked great and that I could stop taking the estrogen patches but should continue with the baby aspirin for another week. He also said that after seeing a good strong heartbeat, the miscarriage rate drops from 35% to just 5%. In another two weeks, it will drop to just 3%.

So I was really surprised and shocked when the next day things took a turn for the worse. I started to have some cramping really low in my belly. I also had pain that felt like hemorrhoid pain, so I thought maybe my hemorrhoid was acting up. Suddenly I felt some fluid gush out of my vagina, and when I looked in my underwear, I saw bright red blood! This completely freaked me out so I immediately called the nurses at Dr. M's office, who told me to come in immediately. Luckily my dad was staying with me in CT, so he could drive me into the city. The drive was excruciating! It helped to talk to AC, but I was still terrified the entire way there, imagining that I was miscarrying and that there wouldn't be any baby on the ultrasound this time.

The office was completely empty when I got there, which was a little eeire. They actually had to call the sonographer to come back because she'd already left for the day. She asked me what happened and then did the ultrasound, which to my immense relief showed little Ziggy and the heartbeat still there completely unharmed. She did find two small spots of bleeding in my uterus that fortunately were not close to the baby, and she said that this is relatively common in the first trimester. She did say it's possible I'll have some bleeding/spotting for the remainder of the first trimester. Dr. M came in looking very concerned and seemed greatly relieved to learn that the baby was fine. He said I should discontinue the baby aspirin. The sonographer told me to take it easy and rest with my feet up if I experienced any more cramping. I return tomorrow morning just to make sure everything is still ok.

Before I left the sonographer told me the baby is measuring at 6w4d and the due date is estimated to be November 7th, although yesterday I was really 6w6d (based on when fertilization took place). I was too overwhelmed by what had happened to ask what that meant, but maybe tomorrow I'll find out. I was planning on doing a week 7 post today, but now I'm not sure I really am at week 7. Anyway, I am still somewhat shaken by what happened. I dread going to the bathroom and seeing blood, and evey little pain or twinge in my abdomen makes me feel panicky. I can't wait till tomorrow to see that the baby is still ok. If they let me, I would probably go in everyday for an ultrasound! I know I need to relax and rest and just hope for the best. From what I've read, there's not much one can do to prevent a miscarriage, so there's really no need for me to obsess (although it's hard not to). I'm already doing everything I possibly can for the baby--taking my progesterone suppositiories three times a day, injecting myself with progesterone in oil every night, trying to stay off my feet and rest as much as possible--so I guess I should just calm down (easier said than done of course). I'll be back tomorrow with a (hopefullly) positive update.

PS: I've added week 7 ultrasound pics below.