2nd ultrasound - 5w5d

I just realized I never posted about my ultrasound results on Friday. I went in Friday morning for a follow up ultrasound and bloodwork. Main thing they were looking for was the yolk sac and a good beta increase (and if course, to check my progesterone level). 

I had a different u/s tech this time. This time it was a female. Last time I had a male and there were some strange protocols involved with that. When we did the transvaginal u/s, another female had to be in the room and I had to insert the probe myself. Weird. Anyway, so the procedure was the same as before though - unnecessarily long and the tech was very quiet. I tried to calm myself with deep breathing and praying but it was really difficult. Finally she was done and she said she did see the yolk sac and what could be the beginnings of the fetal pole!  It was so early though, she couldn't say for sure. The yolk sac being there is great but the fetal pole is an even better sign - it's the first sign of structures beginning to form and the start of the spinal cord. She said she measured me at 5w6d - also good. So then she wrapped everything up, printed out a pic for me, I cleaned myself up and was on my way. 

I got a call from my nurse later that day telling me everything looked great. She confirmed everything was on track. She even said that the tech detected a pulse within the sac!  A pulse of 104bpm - aka a HEARTBEAT!!  Whoa!!  I was shocked as the tech didn't say anything about this and it was so early too. I was 5w5d on Friday so that's not really expected until 6.5 weeks or so. But it does start beating around 5.5 weeks - so it's not completely crazy or anything, just surprising that the machine picked it up. So I asked my nurse if this meant I had a "clinical pregnancy". She didn't really know what I meant. LOL. My former clinic used that term to describe a pregnancy that has a heartbeat. But she said  the pregnancy looked really good and once we saw the sac, it was official. So I was out of the woods for having a chemical pregnancy last Tuesday. My result last Friday puts me out of the "blighted ovum"/"empty sac" danger. My next ultrasound will be next Friday and as long as there is growth, we will be looking good.  My beta is slowing down which is expected. It was 5676, a 50 hr doubling time. Still within the range of 48-72 hrs that is expected at this stage so that's good. 

I'm a bit disappointed that the tech didn't flip on the audio once she found the pulse but oh well. It's such a beautiful sound after you have been worrying so much and been jumping thru so many hoops to have a pregnancy stick. Hopefully I'll get the tech to let me listen at my next appointment-assuming all goes well. I'm starting to feel a bit more secure with this pregnancy but the lack of preggo symptoms is still causing doubts for me. I guess I just have to trust that everything is ok. My boobs are starting to hurt more consistently and I can lay down and take a nap anywhere too so those are good I guess. No signs of a hangover though. I guess it's a good thing as it is preventing me from eating too much too early. That was sort of an issue with Kellen - eating made the nausea go away so I was constantly eating at first and gained way too much weight. 

Anyway, here's a pic from my ultrasound. The black circle is the gestational sac and the faint white circle is the yolk sac.