This is Howie Dubin

Today was a fabulous day! We had our six-week appointment with Dr. Braverman and our first ultrasound. We were (and especially I was) pretty nervous going in, as our previous ultrasound experiences have not been so good and we were just so hopeful that we would see/hear a heartbeat. Sure enough, it took the ultrasound technician about 7 seconds to find our little bean and she immediately saw the tiny little heart beating. We were even able to hear it, beating at 117 beats per minute, exactly where it should be at this stage of the game. Here is Howie's first picture:

They are pretty specific about all of the measurements, and our little guy was 5.8mm long. They even gave us an updated due date of July 19, 2013 -- two days earlier than we thought. All blood flow looked good, which is a sign that the immune issues that have troubled us in the past are not having the same negative effect they've had in my previous pregnancies (the immune cells function by inhibiting proper development of the placenta, basically choking off its blood supply -- but my blood supply looked really good). We are not quite out of the woods yet, but things are looking as good as they can for where we're at right now.

Dr. Braverman wants to see us again in three weeks, so we'll head back up to Long Island on December 17th. That will probably be the last time that we see him, and soon after that I'll be released from his care on sent on my merry way to be a regular pregnant lady. In the meantime, I'll have another ultrasound here in DC in about 10 days, just to keep an eye on things.

I am feeling nauseous and SO happy to feel that way! Every pregnancy symptom feels like a little victory.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers!