The Sweetest Thing

First, let me apologize for being MIA for almost a week!

I haven't been feeling well (sick & tired) but the last thing I wanted to do was write whiny posts about feeling bad-- especially to lovely ladies who would give anything to feel sick and tired... As I mentioned before, I'm so thankful for any symptoms that let me know that Baby Blakely is baking properly, but I'm so wiped out right now I can barely post. But enough of that--
On to the good stuff!

We had an appointment with our new ob/gyn today and we really liked her. She was recommended to us by Dr. RE (they're friends) and she had a very similar bedside manner-- kind, friendly & thorough. We weren't thrilled that we weren't called back until 45 minutes after our appointment time (a huge pet peeve of mine), but we made our appointment for first thing in the morning next time, so maybe that will help.

The new doctor wanted to do an ultrasound to date the pregnancy, even though I had one done last week-- we were thrilled. She wanted a baseline scan and we'll take any chance we can get to see the baby! It's unbelievable how much changes in a week!

The small round circle is the yolk sac, which will disappear within the next few weeks as the placenta grows. Baby Blakely now looks like a sleeping gummy bear, with little arms and legs!

As the ultrasound tech was getting the measurements she needed (right on schedule at 7w6d), we saw the heartbeat. There was no squinting to look at it-- it was much larger and clearer than last week and was beating at 168bpm.

Then, out of nowhere, we heard the most beautiful sound-- whoosh, whoosh, whoosh. The heartbeat-- we heard the heartbeat! We looked at each other then stared at the screen in awe. Neither of us said anything as a tear slid down my cheek. Rob grabbed my hand and squeezed so tight, trying not to lose it as he got teary-eyed.

The heartbeat is recorded along the bottom of this ultrasound:

It was all we could talk about for the rest of the day-- I sent e-mails to Rob where the only text was "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh." He called and left me voice mails imitating the sound. When we got home from work, he pretended to hear the sound when he pressed his ear against my belly.

I expected that we would probably be able to hear the heartbeat with a doppler at our next appointment (around 12 weeks)-- but hearing it before 8 weeks was such a surprise.

I have to say, and I think Rob would agree, that today was the coolest day of our lives so far. Hearing the life beating inside me-- Hearing our baby was the sweetest thing.