The First 12 Weeks of Beta Lucky

After a couple of early pregnancy losses, we followed Beta's first few weeks fairly closely and with some concern.

 In week 5, we had HCG beta levels checked. They were 3490 on Tuesday and 5520 on Thursday. That was almost doubling every 72 hours--on the long side of what most people consider normal.

In week 6, we checked the HCG beta levels again. They were 16914 on Wednesday and 21544 on Friday. Still rising well, but not even doubling every 72 hours.

Progesterone had also shown a drop between the Thursday (progesterone 15) and Wednesday (progesterone 12) testing. Since the following week was Christmas and we wouldn't be able to do any testing that week, they went ahead and gave me an oral progesterone supplement.

Through the week of Christmas, I was with family. We hadn't seen doubling HCG levels and there had been a drop in progesterone, so we were still very uncertain as to whether this was a viable pregnancy. And I didn't have any definitive pregnancy symptoms.

At 8 weeks, I was back in for my 8 week appointment and a viability ultrasound. The midwives don't do early ultrasounds on a routine basis, but with my history, they were amenable to doing that. I was in tears when the ultrasound technician announced that she saw a healthy heartbeat of 170bpms and a baby measuring exactly right for 8 weeks. With my appointment, they also gave me all the standard information about available testing and screening, what to expect, what to avoid, and what additional testing to expect with an AMA (advanced maternal age) pregnancy. My weight at this point was 121. Not sure what it was pre-pregnancy,

To follow-up, they did another ultrasound at 10 weeks. My parents were in town at the time, so they were able to see little Beta wiggling around still with perfect size measurements and a heartbeat of 169. My weight was up to 122.

At 12 weeks, I had a complete physical and blood panel. I also was able to hear Beta's heart for the first time with the hand-held doppler. It took the midwife a minute or so to find the heartbeat, but it was there--a healthy 165. I forgot to write down my weight, but I think it was 124.