I went in for my 6 week ultrasound today. I’ve been super nervous and this scan helped put my mind at ease (a little). So before the scan at 2pm, I was instructed to empty my bladder at noon and then start drinking 32oz of water and to not go pee until after the scan. Okay, I drink a LOT of water every day. 32oz in 90-120 min is no joke! I did as instructed. I got myself a large bottle of SmartWater at noon – 33.8 oz to be exact. And I had drank the whole thing by the time I was brought back into the exam room at the radiology clinic. The radiology tech gel-ed me up and said my bladder wasn’t nearly full enough. Are you kidding me?! So I had to drink more water and wait, and more water and wait. I drank at least 40 oz of water and after waiting an hour, my bladder was still not where it should have been. The tech decided we would proceed anyway. In college, 40 oz of fluid would have had a whole other meaning!
She told me that we probably wouldn’t see or hear much since I’m not far along. She took some measurements for the external/abdominal ultrasound. Finally, I got to pee! And then she proceeded with the transvaginal ultrasound. Several time she said that I would hear my own heartbeat and to not get too excited. She was up there for quite some time. I was starting to get a bit uncomfortable and was thinking to myself, “ok lady, what in the world? is this over yet?”. Then, all of a sudden, I heard a strong “whoosh whoosh whoosh” – different from the whooshes I had heard earlier that were clearly mine. She said, “Oh my gosh! That’s it! That’s the baby heartbeat!”. I said, “Wow! Amazing!”. I was not expecting to hear it at all, let alone so loudly! It was clear and strong. Wow. The tech said this was a good sign.
So part of the reason for the early ultrasound was that they are still trying to figure out if I have a mishapen or bicornuate uterus. The tech did mention that my uterus is tilted back, but that this was common. She said nothing about the overall uterine shape, so I guess I will be waiting to hear from my doctor on his interpretation.
The baby is 6 weeks, 4 days along today and 4mm long. I’m right on track.
In the ultrasound pic above, you can see the “plus” symbols at the baby’s rump and head. The bubble next to the baby is the yolk sac that will eventually turn into the placenta. The black circle surrounding all of it is the gestational sac, which will continue to grow and push the uterus out.
I kinda think baby looks like a hairless rat! Or a puppy. Either way, itty bitty and not quite human-like yet.
I have been fretting over my blood sugar, especially after this last weekend. In my head, I’ve been playing out these scenarios that the baby’s brain or heart are not developing correctly due to the spikes. Hearing the baby’s heartbeat loud and clear – I’m feeling some sense of relief, at least for the time being. Still, I’m very ready to get back on my strict low carb diet. I truly believe that a diet that allows me to maintain near-normal blood sugar is the right diet for the baby.
sweetvigilancebabyblog 