Week 7 to 8

This was an exciting week as we had the viability scan. It was also worrying too as I was fearing the worst! I had a transvaginal ultrasound and can't explain the feeling when we were shown the tiniest little blob on the screen. In the middle was a little flicker which is the heartbeat! The doctor was able to use the doppler and measure the babies heart rate, so we got to listen to it as well. I think I was grinning like the village idiot at this stage!

The babies heart rate measured 121bpm and it's crown to rump length was 5.3mm. So tiny! The doctor dated me at 6 and a half to 7 weeks, not bad considering I thought I was 7+1. The baby was nestled in the top right of my uterus and we could see the shadow of the placenta. I have included a copy of my scan taken that day. I'm not too sure what the two images on the left are but the top right is the embryo and the bottom right is the position in the uterus. The shadowy area to the left is the placenta.



The only slight problem found was with my corpus luteum. The corpus luteum is the leftover follicle from the egg after it has burst out and is what is responsible for providing progesterone in the early stages of pregnancy before the placenta takes over. It appeared as though mine had had a haemorrhage and the doctor was worried about the effects on my progesterone levels. It's progesterone which helps to sustain the pregnancy and stops the uterus contracting and expelling the embryo. To prevent this from happening I was prescribed 200mg per day of natural progesterone to keep my levels up. This was to be continued until week 10.

Now, I don't know if it was the extra progesterone to thank for this but the extreme tiredness kicked in this week! It's hard to explain but it is just a sheer exhaustion and I felt like I'd been hit by a truck! You fight to keep your eyes open and you're yawning all day long. With the tiredness comes the nausea. They seem to go hand in hand! By this point I was feeling pretty ropey most of the day.