Dancing Bean!

*10 weeks, 1 day*

Today was my last appointment at the REs office. We had our first ultrasound in three weeks, and it was incredible. Words can't really describe it. Baby K is now over an inch long, with arms and legs, and a giant head. And apparently, it's a dancer. The u/s tech showed us the heartbeat - 158 bpm today - and then pointed out it's movement. I nearly held my breathe, because I didn't want to think my talking, laughing, or breathing had anything to do with the flutter of movement we were seeing. Arm and legs were swinging all over the place, the body was squirming back and forth, and the head was turning left and right. It was so surreal. This little bean, this little PERSON (or fetus, however you want to look at it), is growing and moving inside of me. I know, I'm Captain Obvious, but to see it on the screen in real life was absolutely amazing. The tech pointed out the umbilical cord, which is now providing the baby's sustenance. She also pointed out the yolk sac, which is no longer needed now that the placenta and cord have taken over, so it is being absorbed back into my body. She did both internal and abdominal ultrasound because she was trying to get a really good look, but she said I'm sort of at that in between stage where it's hard to get a good look on either. The movements, though, were clear as day. You'd had to have been blind to miss it.

My baby's giant head is on the right
Click on image to enlarge.

Another angle...
Click on image to enlarge.

After the u/s, I met with Gabby, my nurse, who checked my weight and BP. For the record, if anyone's counting, I've already gained 4-6 lbs. Yikes - no wonder I'm feeling fat. After meeting with Gabby, we met with Dr. Lifchez for the last time. He told us things look great and said the likelihood of miscarriage is very slim from this point forward. He said I could do yoga, get a massage, and stop taking my IVF medications as of today (including the progesterone injections, oral estrogen, and baby aspirin), so that was all very good news!! He suggested that we not wait too long to try to get pregnant again after the baby's born, as he suspects we'll need to do IVF again, due to my history of infertility due to endometriosis and the post-op infection I had in 2006. He gave me a copy of my records for my OB and told us not to forget to send baby pictures!

On another note - I bought a bathing suit. I know, it's still cold and gray outside, but I had to think ahead. We're going to the cabin in August, and I'll be 8 months pregnant. I could have waited, but who knows what my options would be come summer or how much I'd have to pay... I ordered a cute tankini from Old Navy, and hopefully it'll work out! Here's some pics: