Mixed Emotions with US results....

Well, we went to our ultrasound on Monday with Dr. R. I was so excited to get to see our baby girl and all was going well with the ultrasound until Dr. R said, "Ok, I'm going to freak you out for a second, but then everything will be ok. Now, this isn't something that's going to prevent her from being able to run, jump, swim, or play..."

And that's when my heart dropped out of my chest. It's her brain. What's wrong with her brain?

He went on to say that she has a small choroid plexus cyst, and this is often just a part of brain development, that either goes away by 28 weeks or hangs around and never causes any problems. It's been seen in 70 year old adults and was there their whole lives without consequence. The problem with seeing it in a fetus, is that it can be related to Trisomy 18. That's the one that's not compatible with life. As soon as he said that, my mind went into NICU mode and I knew that those babies don't survive and so I started panicking on the inside and wondering if my little one would be like those babies.

I held it together somehow in front of the doctor and although his word were, "This is NOT something to worry about, I promise. Everything else is normal, she does NOT have Trisomy 18. It will go away and everything will be fine." Yeah right. As soon as he left, I excused myself to the bathroom (Carlos was with me) and I burst into tears. Dr. R must have known, because several minutes later, he was standing outside my door as if he knew I was going to have a melt down in spite of his words. He once again, reassured me that this a normal variant of development, and not to worry. Through bawling tears, I asked him if I can buy baby stuff or not. He said OF COURSE. So we had made an appointment for 4 weeks to follow up, and he offered to look again in 2 weeks so he can show me AGAIN that she's fine. So, I'm down to see him on the 7th.

I have asked the neonatologists I work with as well as my OB (who called today because she knew I would be freaking out), and everyone has assured me not to worry. She said Trisomy 18 is "not even on (her) radar" for me. The other neonatologist (who is my favorite) said the current articles about these cysts are about whether it is ethical to even tell parents about them because they freak parents out for no reason. YEP, it did! I wish he wouldn't have even told me. Ignorance really is bliss sometimes!

So, for now, I feel much better about it with all the research I've read and opinions of experienced doctors. If they say not to worry, I won't. So I'm buying baby furniture tomorrow. :-)

If you're a follower of this blog (all two of you), please lift up a prayer or two for my little one to make sure the cyst resolves and is not an indicator of ominous things. I have to have faith on this one or I'll drive myself crazy. It's in HIS hands. He made her perfect in his sight, and I believe He will take care of her.

Thank you!!

Off to bed to rest this weary brain. Will update with the next sono if not sooner!

Kristina
XOXO

One More Week!!

Well, I went to the OB doctor today to check the baby's heart rate, pee in a cup, etc, and all seems to be going well. My uterus is about the size of a cantaloupe and the baby is the size of an onion! Wow! It's weird, I can feel this melon ball in my belly right under my belly button now. It's all hard and weird!! I can't help but want to poke it!

My OB also said that I should be feeling movements in the next 3 weeks or so, but I think I am feeling them already. They feel like little bumps and I feel it most when I am laying down or sitting in a chair or the car when my belly is scrunched up. I would think if it's gas, then gas would soon follow, but it doesn't. Hmm... My OB didn't seem to believe that it's movement, even though they say it can start at 14 weeks. We'll see in a few weeks if that's what it was. It's weird, I also feel it more when I listen to hard rock in my car. Maybe she likes the bass??

Also, a week from today, I get another ultrasound, which I am TOTALLY excited about. We'll get to see if she stays a SHE or not. I think she will. We just have to come up with a name that we can stick to if it's a girl. We think we have one so far, but there's always someone who doesn't like it, so it's hard not to be swayed!

In other news, my friend Amy is having a BOY! What did I say? We knew it a long time ago! So Little Miss will have a built in boyfriend! Carlos said, "what if they grow up and hate each other and you two have their wedding planned already?!" Not gonna happen! We'll MAKE them like each other! LOL!

Well, if you're interested, I posted pics of the belly progression on my photobucket page. Just go to (copy and paste, my hyperlink's not working): http://s658.photobucket.com/albums/uu301/Nursekris84/

It's not that big right now, it seems that she's laying more WIDE than straight out. Thanks, baby!! Just what I wanted, to look WIDER! I tell ya, this pregnancy thing ain't for sissies. To watch your ass widen, your thighs get bigger, your belly turn to jiggle and then a potbelly...why did I want this again?! She better be a good kid!!


Alright, that's all for now. I need to go do some wifely duties around the house. Talk soon!

Kristina

Long time no see!

Well hello again. I'm back! I seem to have disappeared for a few weeks! Whoops. Still new to this blog thing, and I locked myself out somehow, but now all is good!

To update for the time missed, we had good news that all the chromosomal tests came back normal! Nothing to worry about there so far. Our risk for Down's Syndrome and Trisomies 13 and 18 seem to be VERY low. That's a good thing. Praise God! With all the sick ones I take care of at work, I get so scared, and just pray for the health of this little peanut.

In other news, it seems I am starting to show. This week we are 16 weeks (4 months) along, and the bump has made its debut! It's not too noticable unless I eat a big meal or don't drink enough water, but its definitely there. I'll get some pics up soon. Apparantly, this week, Little Miss is the size of an avocado or a turnip (two different websites). She can now hear our voices and is growing eyelashes and hair! Time to break out the Baby Mozart! I added a visual aid of fruit that we go by at the top of the page.

Well, that's about all I really have for now about the baby. She's going to continue to grow in there, and hopefully I can talk my OB into a gender confirmation ultrasound before our next perinatologist appointment at almost 21 weeks! That's way too long to wait! My friend Amy gets to go on Tuesday, so we'll see what she's having. For the recond, I think it's a boy! We'll see if I'm right. This little princess needs a Prince Charming!

Oh, and we're going to Boston again for our LATE 1st anniversary trip and also as a last trip before our family expands. I hope she likes cold weather like her mama does! I'm so excited!!! Woo hoo!!!

That's all for now folks. Talk soon!


Kristina

Is this dorky?

Just a quick update on the gender debate. I ran into Dr. R, our original perinatologist who was supposed to do my ultrasound last week but he took a day off. I told him that since he wasn't there, he had to do a nub analysis on the photos I had from my appointment. So, he looked at them, and said.....It's DEFINITELY a girl. He gave me a 98% chance! Now, THAT's something I can work with!

Now the debate will be a name. Carlos and I are down to two variations of the same name. I think I'm going to win eventually, but women always do, right? I just think with our last name having 3 syllables, the first name should be 2 or less. Sarah Q, you can back me up on this, right? You wouldn't have named little G something like Henderson (sorry, that's the first thing that popped in my head!) with a long last name, would you? The name I picked has two syllables but only 4 letters, and his is a 3 syllable one. Hmmm...

My other question is, do you think it's dorky to have a journal for the baby? I bought one awhile back in case it was a girl, so I could tell her our feelings/excitement/fears during the pregnancy and after she's born. A girl would read that, not a boy. I can remember reading my baby book and loving it! I hope she will too. I have just seen a lot of NICU moms writing journal entries for their baby to eventually read. Or maybe I can just use this blog? I wonder how long it stays online?

Ok, that's all I got for today. I have a coffee date and a date for BINGO! Ha ha! I just thought of it the other day and wanted to go. Yes, I'm a loser. But I have a day off, what else should I do? No baby stuff just yet, it's too early! So, I'll bring my bingo dobbers and get ready for a good time! Lol! Don't hate...you know it's cool. ;-)


Me

So I'm not just a fatty, I'm pregnant?

Well, today was my 13 week check up, and all went well. Felicia, one of the nurses showed off her mad Doppler skills and found the little peanut's heart rate in like 0.2 seconds. Why does it take me like 8 minutes, till I'm about to cry because I can't find it? Not fair... It was 164 I think. The nurse said it's a girl because the HR is so high. We'll see!!

Anyway, I asked my OB if the weight gain is excessive at this stage of the game. Don't even think because this is a blog, that I'm going to disclose how much weight that is exactly. Only me, Carlos (sort of, I may fudge a bit on the number I tell him), and my OB know the weight gain so far! She said not to worry about it, and that's it's all fluid. Yeah, tell my ass and "bye-bye" arms that. Thanks.

I also showed the doc the gender pic, and she said she couldn't tell! Ahh! It better be a girl now that the other doctor gave me a 90%, or I think the sono should be free! So, no pink stuff for awhile.

Also, we're still waiting on the blood work for all the trisomies to come back. Those are genetic disorders and Down's syndrome if you didn't know. I'm not really worried about it, but I'll say a prayer anyway. Everything looked structurally normal at this point. Will update when we find out.

In other news, during the last blog entry, right as I finished, Sam (our dog) barfed at my feet. Awesome! Wanna see a preggo run??? Barf within a few feet of her and you'll be amazed at the speed in which she moves! Sam is a BIG dog, so he makes BIG barfs. Yum.... Needless to say, I threw a towel to Carlos from across the room to clean it up so he wouldn't have to clean both Sam's AND my puke up! You know we're like drug dogs, us preggos, we can smell things clear across the house! Blech...gross. I had to see/smell it, so you have to hear about it! He he!!

Alright, I gotta run. Bladder calls. Later!

Here's the nub shot. The nub theory was kind of shown on this website, so you can see what you think it is:


http://www.baby2see.com/gender/study_ultrasound.html




Any guesses?? Still think it's a girl? I don't see a nub pointing up, do you?

Hello Everyone!

Well, since this is my first official post on our family blog, I guess I should say something profound or catchy to get you to want to read our posts. Something that makes you want to visit our page BEFORE you check your Facebook page everyday. Yeah right, who can beat Facebook? We're not THAT cool! But, I can promise that our adventures will at least give you a laugh or two as we stumble along the path of new parenthood. Since I can't post everything on Facebook, this will be our place to share the stuff for family and close friends to see. I hope you'll join us and share in the fun times that are ahead!

Since you may have heard, at this time, we are expecting a baby girl in January. That is, if she doesn't change her mind and become a little boy by the next ultrasound. We won't go buying pink just yet, until we get confirmation, but for now, we'll go with it. At least I can say "she" instead of "it", right?

If I can figure this out, I'll be posting a picture of the "gender shot" and you can guess for yourself. They say that if the "nub" points up, it's a boy, and if it's straight or down, it's a girl. Looks straight to me! Team PINK!