Friday, February 03, 2006

Ultrasound.

Monday, we went to the OB/Gyn-Kenobi for Lauren’s 20 weeks check up and Ultra-Sound. (must…reach…Beta Capsule. Sorry, that is from Ultra Man). We were delighted to be able to see the baby for the first time. The technician made small talk with us as she started the process of moving the wand over Lauren’s belly and clicked away on her computer. She made measurements of different body parts and was printing pictures. I was not paying too much attention because I had Max, and the excitement of finding out the gender overwhelmed me. We were able to see the gender of the baby and as far as we could tell everything looked great. The technician mentioned that the placenta was a little low, but that should correct itself.

We then waited for Dr. Jones to review the photos and listen to the heartbeat. Lauren and I were excited and happy knowing what we were going to have and were smiling, and talking to Maxfield about his new baby sibling. We were happy. Dr. Jones entered, carrying the pictures and said, “Everything looks okay, but I noticed the placenta is a little low medical mumbo jumbo, blah bah blah, so no sex for eight weeks, medical mumbo jumbo, blah blah blah.”

“Whoa? Did you just say no sex?” I said. “Did she put you up to this?”

Dr. Jones, Lauren and I all laughed and were making jokes about prescribing no sex. Dr. Jones then got serious and said, “We also noted there is a bright spot on the baby’s heart. We feel you should go see a specialist right away for a better Ultrasound.”

The happiness and the jokes came to a screeching halt. We asked questions.

Dr. Jones said that it probably is nothing to be concerned about but we should get the second opinion as soon as possible so we could have a more definitive answer and to ease our minds. The bright spot could be a tumor or a cyst and it is also an indicator of Down's Syndrome. Dr. Jones called the specialist and set an appointment for later that day, in two hours.

That is 120 minutes. 7200 seconds. Forever.

We made arrangements to have our neighbor watch Max for the rest of the day and tried to think positive thoughts. The drive to the specialist was a somber one. We went from joy and elation to worry and tension in a matter of seconds and neither Lauren nor I could really speak.

We entered the Ultra sound room at the specialist’s and the technician made small talk as she started the process of moving the wand over Lauren’s belly and clicked away on the computer. I was focused on what she was doing. She measured the femur, the kidneys, the head. Click. Click. Click. The tech found the heart and started taking pictures. Sure enough you could see the bright spot. She took more measurements. Click Click. She then changed the image on the computer to show the blood flow. It looked like Thermo imaging. She said things looked fine.

She stopped the small talk and said that she sees this bright spot at least 10 times a week, at that 90 % turn out to be just a cluster of muscle tissue that corrects itself as the baby develops. It is not a tumor. A tumor would look different. I think I finally caught my breath at this point. She gave us a couple of the prints and she left to consult the doctor.

We waited for about 5 minutes. 300 seconds. Forever.

The doctor entered, smiled and said. “The baby is fine. You have nothing to worry about. All the other measurements are normal so I do not think it is Down's. This is just a cluster of muscle tissue that should correct itself.” Wow what a relief.

The doctor spoke for a few more minutes. “The placenta seems low and medical mumbo jumbo, blah blah blah, no sex for 8 weeks, medical mumbo jumbo.”

“What? C’mon you doctors are killing me.” I said.

The doctor, Lauren and I all laughed and started joking. We were happy again. Relieved.

8 weeks. 56 days. 1344 hours. 80,640 minutes. Forever. I don’t care*. My kid is okay.
We do need to get another Ultrasound in 8 weeks just to make sure.

For those that want to know the gender of the new Poop and Boogies baby. Go HERE. Please refrain from leaving a comment here in regards to the gender because I know some people do not want to know.

* Lauren- I do care but I can wait.

31 comments:

kimmyk said...

Wow how scarey!

Glad everything is ok..and those 8 weeks? Use that time to get things ready for the new bundle of joy.

I looked at the photo...congrats!

Susie said...

Healthy! Yahoo! That is all anyone wants. Congrats again... can't wait to see how it progresses!

Great picture!

The Egel Nest said...

Congrats...How Exciting!

I wish you all blessings :)


Bradley
The Egel Nest

Tammy said...

Congratulations. Glad everything is ok.

The Q said...

How scary!!! I'm glad that second Dr was able to put your mind at ease. What a relief.

Kate Giovinco Photography said...

Glad everything turned out ok.

Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Congrats again! So glad that everything turned out to be okay.

islandarts said...

ultra sounds are a special form of torture for expectant mom's. i had a high risk pregnancy and many ultrasounds. I always left relieved from old worries but anxious about a new set of worries. But seeing my little ones on the screen chewing their cud in that cute skeletal way that fetus' do... priceless.

islandarts said...

Oh ya- many congrats too!!

Steph said...

Glad everything is ok. Thanks for stopping by. After the day you had you should stop by for some alcohol thats in that cabinet...sorry about the no sex thing..you will live...I promise..my husband survived 8 weeks before birth of our second one & then of course 6 wks after birth...lets just say the first time was a quickie ;o)

Kami said...

SO SCARY!!!

Congrats! And thanks for the extra pictures!

Unknown said...

Bill, Lauren -- sometimes, ultrasounds can be scary like that -- we had a couple of those with Buddy. I'm SO glad everything will be ok. :) You're half way there! Woo! :)

Nature Girl said...

I am so happy everything turned out ok..you'll keep us posted with updates I'm sure. In the meantime...I'm sending happy thoughts your way and keeping you in my prayers. Love the pics...Stacie

Melanie said...

Thanks for sharing the pics. They were great! Glad everything is ok.

Kari said...

OMG I just went through so many emotions reading this post. I can't imagine what you guys were going through. At first I was all excited to read as fast as I could to find out the gender. Then I didn't even care about the gender, it was no longer important.

I'm so happy to hear that everything turned out to be fine, whew!

What a beautiful healthy baby!

Anonymous said...

The waiting'll kill ya, won't it?

I mean waiting for the medical results, but I imagine your other eight weeks of waiting won't be so easy either. ;)

Glad everything turned out okay with the baby.

Cheryl said...

Congrats on the baby. I know the feeling when the doc says something is wrong. It's like your world just completely stops. So glad everything is okay with the little one. Good luck.

Jewl said...

Yeah for Healthy!
We went 7 months, by the way, NOTHING!! Doctors orders... but as long as everything is okay with Lauren in the baby, that is all that matters!

Susie said...

Waiting sucks. Here's to no more scares. And somewhere toward the end of that post, I punched you in the gut, William, and then I hugged you. Don't you scare us like that.

c said...

*whew* Oh, man, that was scary just reading about it...I can't imagine actually going through it.

Congrats!

Anonymous said...

I am in the midst of doctors orders.
This will be my second 34 week doctors order.
There are only 52 weeks in a year.

Anonymous said...

I can't even tell you how hard I laughed at "OB/Gyn-Kenobi."

What a well-written post. And I'm so glad your kid is okay.

Judypatooote said...

Wm. and Lauren, I can imagine how fightened you where......I have to tell you that we had that scare with my grandson Christopher who is now 8.....they saw a spot on his brain, said it could be downs or a brain tumor.....they said Linda could abort, but just to be sure they would send her to a specialist....and they did that ultra (the special one) again.....and after having a prayer chain here and in Indiana, the ultra sound came back and he said it was ok.....no matter what my daughter said she would never abort....and I have the cutest 8 year old grandson, that I call honeybug....thank God for Prayers...

Joseph said...

GaWD!!! I held my breath for 2.5 mins. 150 seconds, like forever dude!!!

That was a difficult post. Not only that, but Coldplay "Proof" was playing at the same time. A somber song for a somber post. I was wiping my face of some slight leakage at the end.

So relieved and happy for all three of you.

Shannon Nelson said...

Aww. I have tears in my eyes!!! I can totally feel how scared you were. But that ultrasound picture. I have three of "them" here tearing up the house.

I will keep the baby in my prayers for the duration of Lauren's pregnancy. :) xoxo

Storm Front said...

Cool picture, congratulations!

As long as 8 weeks seems, you're right, as long as the baby is ok, you'll both wait and looking back 8 weeks will be just a moment in time.

(Remember this in 7.65 weeks!)

Ern said...

What a relief that everything is fine. Wonderful writing on this post (as per usual) by the way.

Congrats again!

Unknown said...

Scary, scary. I'm glad that it appears to be nothing and wish you both the best with the rest of the pregnancy...sex or not... ;)

Anonymous said...

Congrats to you and Lauren. Paul says hello

Lynette

Unknown said...

Whew that is scarey. We went through that TWICE with Nathan, once after a routine bloodtest at 13 weeks, and once after he was born. Perfectly fine, but they scare the bejeezus outta ya. Congrats!! Great picture!

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