Beat, little heart, beat!!

Thought you may get a kick out of this, too. Don't ask me how, but this is the photo that shows the baby's heartbeat. A strong 144 beats per minute!!

Our First Photo

Hi all! I hope you all have heard by now that baby Noland has a very strong heartbeat. It is supposed to be between 120-160, and we came in at 144 beats per minute. Steve and I were truly overwhelmed. Tina didn't even have to point it out to Steve - he could see the heart flickering on the ultrasound monitor. We are filled with such a sense of relief and awe. At this point, the baby is about the size of a pinto bean, yet it still has a functioning heart. Amazing! By the way, the baby is in between the two dots on the photo. The big black circle is it's amniotic sac. Basically, s/he's just swimming around in there, hopefully growing like a weed!

We go back to see Dr. Keenan on Thursday, October 4 for one final ultrasound. The baby should have grown a bit by then, and we may even be able to see little arms! Assuming all goes fine, we will be released back to Dr. Fields. I'm feeling a bit ambitious now, so I've set up my prenatal appointment (lots of paperwork, family history, etc.) with his nurse Friday morning, October 5. I don't know how quickly we'll be in to see him after that. Since most women start their visits before their 10th week (which is what I'll be by then), I'm not quite sure how they'll schedule us.

Besides being tired, I'm feeling fine. My thyroid is still acting up, so that has likely contributed to the fatigue. My dosage has been doubled again, so hopefully it will kick in and pick me up in the next few days. I've lost all hope of not feeling so bloated. My belly is what it is, and I am just thankful that there is a baby in there somewhere. My ovaries are still bigger than the poor thing, and could be for awhile. I may be purchasing pregnancy pants sooner than I expected!

I feel like we're through the roughest part, but we still have a few weeks yet to go to make it through the first trimester. Thank you for praying us through it all!