10w6d

So let's just cut to the chase: WE'RE STILL HAVING A BABY.

Holy crap, my blood pressure was probably through the roof on the way over there. We got into the ultrasound room and there was the baby, completely still, and I was nervously squinting for that little heart flicker. And there it was. I said to the tech, "It's not moving today," and she said, "Yeah, it's pretty quiet," and then as if on cue, the little dude lifted an arm and WAVED at us and then started moving all over the place, wiggling limbs and flipping around and even mooning us at one point. I started crying and laughing at the same time which totally messed up the ultrasound. Oops. Heartbeat was nice and strong at 175, and the baby measured 10w5d - actually catching up a little. (I am 10w6d today.)

Actually, it really couldn't have gone any better. Baby B's sac was still there and not messing with anything, the subchorionic hematoma was actually a little bit smaller, there was no other blood visible anywhere, some of the ovarian cysts had decreased in size - not the big one, but it didn't get any bigger.

Our midwife was running super late and we waited for a LONG time. She was MUCH more positive than the last one, wasn't too concerned that I was having the brown spotting especially as it is getting light and the red has stopped and the SCH got smaller. My blood pressure was super low (something like 108/54) and all I could think was, "It's a good thing you took it AFTER the ultrasound." My bloodwork from Thursday came back great - no anemia, good counts. She said the baby looked great, was measuring great, she wasn't too concerned with the cyst as long as it didn't get bigger, but she offered another ultrasound for next week if we wanted reassurance. I was ready to pass but Jen REALLY wants me to do it, so I will. She basically said that she expects that there is no reason we won't carry a healthy baby. It was SO different from the "You could go home and start cramping this evening" conversation.

She didn't want to do a pap because I'm still spotting, but she did want me to be screened for varicella and parvovirus because I'm a social worker and don't know if I've had either. She offered us the quad screen and nuchal testing, and Jen wants to do more research before we decide. I'm hesitant to do it because there are higher rates of false positives on the blood tests with twins, especially vanishing twins. The midwife said that if I was concerned about the false positives but did want to do the screen, we could arrange to have a genetics consult first before the screening to discuss falso positives. It's something to think about. I just REALLY don't want to get some kind of false positive and then end up getting pushed into CVS or amniocentesis which I really REALLY don't want to do.

So that's it. We have a squirming, living baby, measuring almost right on, looking great, MOONING US. Awesome.