Hi, and welcome. This blog has changed a bit recently. My husband and I fought through 4 consecutive losses to get our second healthy child (born in December 2012) . . . and while we had not shut the door on the idea of another pregnancy, we certainly were leaning in that direction. On August 8, 2014, we found out we are pregnant for the 7th time. A total surprise. So the neurotic journey continues . . . third child or fifth loss . . . I'm scared and confused and just a teensy bit excited . . .

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Tomorrow, tomorrow . . .

A quick run down of prenatal development for what we should and might see tomorrow . . . 

  • Very late in the 4th week and with beta levels ranging between 1,000 and 2,000 - An intra-uterine gestational sac should be present.  Absence of a sac is indicative of a chemical pregnancy.  A sac located anywhere other than the uterus is non-viable.
  • By the middle of the 5th week - A yolk sac will become visible.  (A small sac within the gestational sac.)  This is the earliest source of nutrients for the embryo.
  • By the end of the 5th week - A fetal pole should be present.  This is the first visible structure of the embryo.
  • By the very end of the 5th week or very early in the 6th week and with beta levels above 6,000 - a fetal heartbeat should be seen.  

I *think* I will be 5 weeks and 2 days tomorrow.  But that number could be off by +/- 2 days based on the uncertainty of my chart this month.  And at it's last check (a week ago) my beta level was 846 - very conservatively speaking my level should be well over 3,000 by now.  So we absolutely NEED to see the gestational sac tomorrow.  I KNOW how these things work.  If we don't see a sac, they will tell us that our dates might be off and to come back again next week.  I have yet to get good news from one of these "maybe you are earlier than you think you are" diagnoses (and I've had a couple now).  So seeing an intra-uterine sac tomorrow is critical for my sanity.  Technically it *could* be too early to see a gestational sac, but realistically speaking I got a positive pregnancy test 2 weeks ago - I am at least 5 weeks pregnant and there should be a sac there.

Anything more than a gestational sac at this point is just icing on the cake.  I would love to see a yolk sac or even a fetal pole, but simple science says that I should not get my hopes up about either.  

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