There's alot going on right now that's really heartbreaking and horrendous and sad beyond belief. But there's good stuff too. And so that's what I'm going to focus on; the baby!


It doesn't seem possible that the baby looks like this already.

Yet apparently, for 5.2 inches and 7 ounces, this is exactly how he looks. Hmmm... and to think (bad mother moment alert) when I first saw him on the ultrasound I almost jumped out of my skin because to me he looked like either, A) something out of a Japanese horror movie, or B) a turtle. And the sad thing is, I said this outloud. The ultrasound technician probably thought I was a psycho mother. Please tell me that someone else thought the same thing when they first saw their ultrasound? Someone? Anyone?

The tech wouldn't tell us the gender, "Your OB will tell you after week 20. In British Columbia they are not permitted to tell you the gender until after that time."

Wow. I didn't know it was LAW. I thought it was, um, preference or something. I know there are still so many baby girls aborted, even in Vancouver/Lower Mainland area, but I didn't think it was the law.

The baby was moving around like mad in there the whole time, but totally cooperated and the tech got all the pics and measurements he needed. I kind of panicked when he was measuring the heart and checking out the valves because he totally did it in Slo Mo and so I, of course, thought something wonky was happening with my baby's heart. But, no, all is well. He's got a great heart.

For a turtle.

!!

I got emotional at one point when it dawned on me that there is so much action happening inside, I made a baby for pete's sake!, all this stuff going on, my little guy is growing and moving and hearing and functioning. And he came from two microscopic cells. (Or whatever the heck eggs and sperm are.... details, details.) It's amazing. And so I got a bit emotional. And had a moment. And then carried on in awe.

BC Women's has a nice set up, you get to see everything on a big screen, your husband comes in with you from the get-go (unlike Greig & Assoc where they make the husband/partner wait outside until they take the measurements and make sure there's a heartbeat), they talk you through it and let you know what you're seeing on the screen, what they're measuring, etc. Again, Greig's won't even show you the screen until they do their stuff. And hey peddle their 3D ultrasound packages to get your 200.00 (in my experience).

So yeah, I'm not a fan of Greig's. They, after all, told me my baby was dead in the middle of the hallway. I turned the corner and there was my dead baby on the screen in the MIDDLE OF THE HALLWAY. Same thing happened to my girlfriend when she had a missed miscarriage. The thing is, I didn't like the delivery of the news, I didn't like where they delivered the news, I didn't like that they told me without my husband being there, but I did like that I got to see my baby, even on a small screen, even not alive, at least that one time.

Hey, this was supposed to be a happy post...

So, off we went to lunch (note: having trouble using the washroom when in Vancouver? Go to Banana Leaf on Broadway and order the Singapore Laksa.) and then we headed off to the OB's.

All is well. My blood pressure is still low (90/50) but I have gained weight finally. Up to 130 now. Gained 8 lbs.

My ultrasound results didn't make it to her office by that time so we couldn't discuss the measurements and all that good stuff. But, my test results were in from the Integrated Serum testing. For Downs it was 1 in 20K, for Spina Bifida, 1 in 4470 and for Trisomy 18 it was 1 in 99K. So I was VERY relieved.

And so by now, with the blue background, you can tell we're having a boy. YAY! I asked my doctor if she'd tell us and she said she would, and that she'd call me when the ultrasound results reached her. At 4pm on the nose my cell phone rang with the fabulous news!

Belly pic coming tomorrow. For now I'm going to listen to the D-Man talk incessantly in my ear about Jesus names. He actually said Moses. (Which I secretly like).

S.