20 Weeks!

Happy half birthday little one!

Monthly doc appt

Yesterday was another appointment with Dr. Galaif. Things all went a-OK. Heather dropped her pee off and we got to hear the heartbeat again, which was loud 'n strong. We asked questions about the possible umbilical vein varix diagnosis. The dr said it is a really rare thing (if it turns out that we actually have this), and they don't have too much information on it. It is something that folks never would have been able to detect before, without high definition ultrasounds that did not exist 10 years ago.

I called Perinatal Associates (where we get our high def ultrasounds) to ask a few more questions. I got to speak to Amy, the genetic counselor that we met with on our very first visit. She talks a bit much, but was really really nice. She concurred with the ultrasound doctor that based on the literature that is out there now, there's nothing additional that needs to be done besides an extra ultrasound. All of the instances of "bad stuff" out there are when this condition is present with multiple other abnormalities, which thankfully there are none of. So for now, I feel pretty good about it all...

Oh and the doctor green-lighted our trip to Kauai at the end of October. Huzzah!

19 Weeks

Bigger Yet?

It's a....

BOY. And Perry was 100% sure blueberry was a girl. I'm excited for Perry to have a buddy to play transformers and GI Joes with. Baby boy blueberry is about 10oz which is a bit ahead of schedule and has 5 fingers on each hand, cute little footprints (see below for one of them) and moves around like crazy. The placenta was in front of the baby's face so we couldn't get any good 4D shots this time. The doctor did notice one slightly concerning issue. There is some dilation where the cord connects to the baby. At this point he told us not to worry and made me promise not to look awful things up on the Internet (yeah right) but he wants to see me in 4 weeks to take another look. If it gets worse, it could be an umbilical varix which is very rare and seem to have mixed outcomes. But... I will try my best to not jump to conclusions although I am worried as hell. I went out and drowned my sorrows in a HUGE milkshake which helped a bit. I have an appointment with my OB on Wednesday so I will talk to her about my concerns and hopefully she'll make me feel better.

Still Confused

After several calls with Dr. Galaif's nurse and prenatal associates, it seems the only thing that REALLY needed to be tested was my AFP, which is 1.58 (2.5 is the cutoff). They also tested my SLOS which was 1 in 10,000, the best score you can hope for. I believe this means I had the expanded AFP test (Prenatal Associates thinks I had the quad screen) but I will ask for more clarification on these tests when I see my OB.

Negative but frustrated

Just found out my AFP came back negative which is a really good thing but I think there was some confusion and I should have been screened for more things. Nurse is calling me back in the morning with more info but I'm a bit annoyed.

Babymoon

Just booked a trip to Kauai for our last vacation before baby. We are staying at the Grand Hyatt which seems like the best resort on the island so it should be amazing. Perry wants to take underwater pictures of my big belly. I will miss the mai tais but I am really looking forward to a week of relaxation. And Malasadas of course :)

18 Weeks!

Almost half way there. I'm not sure if I can really see a big difference in this pic compared to the last two weeks but I FEEL bigger.

17 week old blueberry

Snapped this picture before catching brunch with Domenique, David, & Lucy. They gave us a bag of some of their baby stuff they didn't end up using like a boppy pillow and a baby wipes warmer. There won't be any chilly wipes for our little one!

Our first article of baby clothing

Yesterday I got my work-provided prenatal care kit in the mail. It contained:

• an Adobe logo branded onesie (ha, our first piece of baby clothing)
• (what seems like) every book in the What to Expect... series
• a cheapo diaper bag
• more booklets and pamphlets and bits of paper

At this point it seems like we have enough baby-related reading materials to fill an entire bookcase...

Cranberry Juice Cocktail

Today I got my blood drawn for an AFP test which can help predict birth defects. I also got a free cranberry juice in return for my deposit. Results will be ready in 2 weeks or so.