Baby update

We went to the doctor again today for our weekly check-up. We had another ultrasound and the baby has grown a lot since last week!! Last week, she (hopeful thinking) was described as "a grain of rice" and this week, she's "about the size of a lima bean, not as big as a butterbean, but the size of a lima bean." How amazing is that??!! We were able to see the heartbeat again and it's beating fast and strong. However, we still couldn't find out the baby's heart rate. This week, the nurse who did our ultrasound didn't know how to do that with the machine. But, the heart was going great and we also saw the baby's feet and a possible arm bud. The feet are the white line on the picture, but she wasn't sure if what we were seeing was the arm bud or not, so I don't have a good picture of it. She also saw the baby's eye socket, though she couldn't get a good angle again for us to see it or to get a picture. We're still measuring right on target, so that's good, too. Our specialist also released me from his care today, turning me back over to my obstetrician now. He said that as long as my bloodwork comes back with good numbers tomorrow, I won't have to come in for weekly bloodwork anymore. They will re-check my auto-antibodies at 14 weeks to see if they are still high and, if so, I will have to stay on the Heparin until 20 weeks and be checked again then. If they are normal, I will be able to stop the Heparin at that time. I was concerned about how they would check for clotting disorders while I'm on the Heparin, but he said that the auto-antibodies are separate and the Heparin doesn't really affect them, it just keeps the blood flowing. I guess I need to do a little more research on that aspect of it. It did make me feel better to know that they can confidently do the bloodwork while I'm still taking the Heparin and not have to put the baby at risk by stopping it temporarily or risk getting skewed results from the Heparin. I have my first prenatal check-up with my OB next week and then I probably won't have to go back to the doctor for about 4 weeks. I'm not complaining because I'll do whatever is necessary for a healthy baby, but it will be nice to not have to drive 45 minutes each way and take a half day to go to the doctor every week. For a while, at least. That will all start again towards the end of the pregnancy!