172 beats per minute! That’s the Lightbulb’s heart rate.

We went to the doctor Wednesday morning. He reviewed all of my bloodwork results – all is well. All of my measurements are right on target for being 10-weeks pregnant. So the due date remains at May 22.

Then the best part… He took us into the exam room to listen to the heartbeat! Except we didn’t get to hear it. After about 3 minutes on putting a great amount of pressure on my always-full bladder with the Doppler-stethoscope, he turned it off. He said he heard the heartbeat a couple times, but couldn’t capture it on the speaker long enough for us to hear it, too.

So out he went, and came back with the portable ultrasound machine. So we got to see pictures!! The doctor laughed about us having a shy baby – which Jeremy and I thought was pretty funny, and likely impossible with us as parents. Then when he got the image up, he said “Nope, not shy – just a wiggle worm” as we watched the baby doing back-flips! It was completely amazing. Although it’s not much larger than a peanut in its shell, we could already see arms, legs, a body, and head! We could see its little tiny heart beating – it’s about the size of a pea, and beating at a whopping 172 BPM!

Unfortunately, this machine wasn’t connected to a printer, so we didn’t get to take a picture home. (I was hoping to post one on here.) In 8 weeks I have an appointment at the hospital for a full ultrasound so they can measure everything on the baby. At that time I’ve been assured I’ll get pictures.

And to the always-full bladder. No, I’m not crazy. It’s not “all in my head.” I’ve been reading. Apparently in the past 10 weeks, the volume of blood in my body has increased by 50%. Additionally, the extra hormones my body is producing cause increased kidney function. Combine those two, and that explains why I spend a large part of my day walking to and from the restroom. See… I’m not crazy!

Okay… more later!