It's a ...

GIRL! B was right and I was wrong. So much for mother's intuition. :)

The Level II showed no physical abnormalities and showed a beautiful, but very squirmy, girl with 10 fingers and 10 toes (they counted!). There was a spot on her heart which required an amnio. They want to see me back in 4 weeks to make sure everything is still progressing well. From what I understand the spot is a marker for Downs, but is not something that will affect the baby (Downs or not) and will not require any type of medical attention. For this we are very relieved.

I will post pictures of our precious little girl tomorrow. Thanks again for all of the support!

Appointment Scheduled

First of all I want to thank everyone for your support. It really does means a lot to me. The appointment is scheduled for Thursday at 10 and will include a Level II ultrasound, doctor consultation and amniocentesis, if I chose this option. I honestly have no idea what to do about the amniocentesis – B wants me to get it so that we can know for sure and we can be prepared (my doctor says the ultrasound will only cut our chances by 50%). He told me he will be fine with whatever I chose after hearing the risks and recommendations of the specialist. This is when deployment really sucks. We are very blessed that we are able to talk and email on a frequent basis – but he can’t be here to listen to all the information and help make decisions.

I am starting to feel overwhelmed. Not with this situation, but just in general. I know I am not even halfway through the pregnancy but I already feel behind. I haven’t even begun to look at daycares or at cribs or carseats or anything else. This is just not like me. I am a financial analyst so organization and spreadsheets are in my blood! For anything else I would already have spreadsheets made of all things baby – complete with pros and cons and con.sumer re.port information. But I have zilch. And B doesn’t get back from deployment until mid-July, when I will be freaking 28 weeks so obviously I can’t wait for him. Oy!

I realize that in the grand scheme of things this is not a big deal at all. But given the appointment on Thursday and the deployment, this is what I am choosing to focus on right now. You think I would choose to focus on something more pleasant – and I really am focusing on those things like how much I love being pregnant and watching my belly grow and how much I am looking forward to my parents visit – but this crap is just nagging the hell out of me. Okay, I think I am down with my rant now. :)

Results

My triple test screening came back abnormal. The doctor called with the news yesterday. It is never good to hear a doctor’s voice on the phone - the nurse originally told me “no news is good news” and instructed me to call in a week to get my results. Based on the test our baby has a 1 and 19 chance of having Downs Syndrome. I understand that there are a lot of false positives – my doctor even stressed that fact several times on the phone. I also understand that while a 1 and 19 chance sounds high (the “abnormal” range begins at 1 and 270) the actual math tells me that the chance is only 5%, and that is IF the test is not a false positive to begin with.

All that being said, hearing the news was very scary for me. I am waiting for the specialist’s office to call to schedule the Level II ultrasound and consult. My parents are going to come up from Florida to be with me so at least I won’t be alone. B is having a hard time being so far away and not being able to physically be here with me while we wait. We are not as scared about having a Downs diagnosis, we just want to hear that everything is okay with the baby (in our eyes “okay” includes receiving a Downs diagnosis).

I told B that I decided to look at this as having another peek at our baby – maybe finding the sex out earlier than planned and seeing if the baby has 5 or 6 fingers / toes on each hand / foot (B’s family has at least one child in each generation born with an extra digit!). He agreed that we need to stay positive – now I need to focus on putting this into action!

I know that I will have a Level II ultrasound at the appointment and that they will discuss the results and most likely recommend an amniosintesis. Can anyone give me advice on what to expect at the appointment?

Ramblings and a picture

B asked me to take some belly pictures so he can watch as I grow. I can tell he is having a harder time with this deployment. I miss him so much. I am trying to stay busy with work, friends, and as soon as the weather actually warms up – enjoying the sunshine. It was 34 degrees this morning! Very cold for here this time of year.

Yesterday I started having what I guess are round ligament pains – pains going down the sides of my belly. I also had some sharp pains in my cervix. I don’t know what caused the cervix pain but it has not returned so I am not going to get worried.

My parents are coming up from Florida next weekend. My mom and I are walking in the city half-marathon. I initially started training to run it, but found out I was pregnant about 2 weeks into the training. My work has a great training program set up with weekly group runs/walks on Saturday mornings and individual training during the week. The schedule has definitely helped me stay on track – with the exception of the 5-6 weeks I did nothing athletic besides running to the toilet to puke. I can’t say I am excited about the actual race, but I am really looking forward to completing it with my mom.

This is my 16 week belly picture. B says he can tell my belly has gotten more round since he saw me 2 weeks ago. He also asked if I have had to buy maternity pants yet or if my “muffin top guard” (belly band) was still allowing me to wear my old pants. I thought that was hilarious! :)

16 week appointment

My appointment went well today. The doctor was able to find the heartbeat right away! Yay! What a beautiful sound. I can’t wait to tell B all about – which will probably be a repeat of the email I sent him as soon as I got back from the appointment. I’ve gained 6 pounds so far. All of my bloodwork from last appointment came back problem free. They did take more blood today for the triple test/screening. I think I get to keep all my blood at the next appointment which will be a nice change of pace.

I asked her about the prenatal vitamins. I haven’t been taking them since about 6-8 weeks when I was so sick – instead I switched to flin.stone vitamins. She said I could try to switch back to the prenatals, but to go back to the flin.stone vitamins if they cause any nausea.

I am exhausted now. I tried not to be nervous about the appointment but I couldn’t help it so I didn’t get a good night sleep. I see an early bedtime in my future. Have a great weekend!

I'm still here

B is now deployed. Being alone is so much harder than I expected. I got to talk with him for the first time on Monday night. He sounded good, but could only talk for a few minutes. He has also been able to email me. The emails really help him feel like he is still in the loop back here. Plus they make me feel less isolated from him – so if I forget to ask him / tell him something on the phone I don’t have to wait a week until we talk.

He asked me to take pictures of my belly along the way. I took one last week and was pretty surprised that an actual bump was visible – not really in my work clothes yet, but in just a tank top you can tell something is there (even if it does resemble a beer gut).

I did not want to post until I heard from him. In all honesty I didn’t want to do much of anything, but one of the girls I work with is on her honeymoon so I have been slammed back-filling her as well as doing my job. I was irritated at first but it really was helpful to be busy during the majority of the day.

I think the morning sickness is gone – knock on wood – and I am getting my energy back. I have an appointment on Friday. I can’t believe it has been 4 weeks since I last saw our little one. And I won’t even get a peak this time, unless we have another heartbeat-hearing issue due to the ‘ol tilted uterus. As long as I hear that strong heartbeat I think I will be good (but who am I kidding, I would love an ultrasound!).

Sorry I have been silent for awhile, although I promise I have been keeping up with all of your blogs. Also I have been tagged by k@ourboxofrain and a loooong time ago by Alison (so sorry!). I promise to get to those next week when my co-worker returns from her honeymoon and my workload returns to normal!