Kennedy's Surprise!

Today was our appointment with the Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist.  I went into this with a lot of anxiety.  It went much better than I expected.  For one, I don't think she ever realized that I see a group of midwives or that I was planning a home birth.  She just kept telling me that she would send a report to my OB.  Let me tell you, today's visit made me even more appreciative of my midwives, and I'm really not sure that was possible!  We waited forever.  It was freezing cold in there.  And although the doctor was nice, she most definitely was not very personable.  Long story short - the ultrasound looks perfect.  I won't go into all the anatomy and measurements, but most importantly there's four heart chambers.  Although it's too early to see many heart defects, she said any of the truly major ones would show up now.  (For what it's worth, Kennedy's heart defect is not considered major in their eyes.)  She said that there was nothing on the ultrasound that would indicate the potential for Down syndrome, though it's still kind of early to tell.  This was a relief to hear!  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  Although Down syndrome doesn't scare me, the idea of having a child with health problems did concern me - regardless of how many chromosomes he or she has.  So knowing that as of now, baby looks healthy, is a relief!

I was given a referral for the MaterniT21 blood test.  However, that could not be drawn today.  It has to be scheduled, and drawn first thing in the morning due to the way that the blood is handled prior to shipping it to California.  I'm not thrilled about driving two hours each way (again) - but it will be worth it.  It then takes 7-10 days to get the results.

I have to admit, it was a pretty neat ultrasound.  I never saw anything that detailed with Kennedy, and we didn't have one until much later with her.  Baby was bouncing around, pushing off my uterus and doing flips and turns.  Now I can just imagine what is going on in there when I feel all the squirming.  There was one thing that was very evident on today's ultrasound.  This baby was DEFINITELY not shy about showing off!  Kennedy wants to be the one to tell you though.

 Oh, you want to know my secret?

What, you can't read it?  It's blurry?

What mom?  I'm holding it in the wrong direction?

I give up.  Is this better? You're lucky I'm not eating it.

 

Yes - you read that right.  Kennedy is going to have a little brother!! (And it only took 100 pictures to get something that could be read as well as that!)  We are so excited to see Kennedy and her brother together and watch them become best friends.  Here is a picture of our little boy!