second ultrasound! six weeks, three days

check out the baby blob today! the blob on the left is the baby, and next to it is the yolk sac. and, i know it's hard to see, but the little lighted area at the top of the baby blob is the heart! we got to see it beating (it looked like a little flicker, on and off) and we even got to hear it. that was amazing. the doctor said everything looks to be developing perfectly, and we're right on schedule size-wise or even a day ahead. she set my due date at october 14.

and now the fertility doctors are ready to release me to other doctors! i don't know if i'm ready to leave them yet. they want me to see doctors that they've worked with in the past because they are familiar with the IVF protocol, medications, etc. so they referred me to a OB/GYN that i will start seeing in march, and also to a perinatologist (a high risk pregnancy doctor). i'm not sure how long i'll need to see him or exactly why i have to... i guess the combination of being 35 and being an IVF pregnancy qualifies me as high risk. but it seems like it just means more care and attention, so i'm fine with that scenario. i have my first appointment with him next week.

it all still feels a bit surreal. i am still having stomach issues, though i've found coping mechanisms, and i'm so, so tired. but otherwise i feel mostly fine. and i really am so excited and happy... and relieved to have this big heartbeat milestone behind us. i know that means we're pretty much out of the woods in terms of "early" miscarriage -- when chromosomal or fluke cellular things end the pregnancy. of course it doesn't mean there's no risk of anything going wrong, but the odds are steadily moving in our favor. so now i just have to sit back and take in the reality that there is a baby coming. i've spent so long thinking and learning about how to get pregnant that i really know nothing about being pregnant or, much less, about having a baby! it's a whole new world. but a really wonderful one, i must say.