Belly at the Beach

Last week we visited some friends at Playa Del Rey, a section of Los Angeles on the beach, and damn near under the airport. The weather was beautiful and warm, the airplanes loud, but fun to watch take off for all parts of the world. But the water was still really cold.

Still, we were able to hang out in our bathing suits for a bit. Mandy's belly is really starting to 'pop'. Pretty soon I expect strangers to start rubbing it uninvited!

Checkup

We went for our monthly check up today and the nurse practitioner said everything looked good. The little guy's heart sounded great, I had gained a good amount of weight, all and all she gave us a thumbs up.

I saw it!

So I was taking a bath last night and the little guy was moving around in my tummy and I thought to myself, "I wonder if I could actually see him kick" So I stuck my tummy out of the bath and sure enough a couple seconds later I saw my belly poke out, just like a little alien was trying to get out. Now I just have to get Mike to witness it!

Half way there!

Yes, it is crazy to think about but we are actually in our 20th week of this whole adventure. On one hand it seems to be taking forever and on the other hand this time is going by way to quickly. When I start to think that I only have 4 months left to get ready for this little guy, it seems like not a lot of time, but I also feel like I am just waiting around for him to come. He is quite a squiggle monster inside me, I bet he will be very wiggly when he gets out into the world as well.

Doula

So we met with a doula last night, what's a doula you ask? Good question. A doula is a labor coach who meets with you in the third trimester and talks to you about how you want your labor to go and then she is with you the whole time you are in labor and will even come to your house for the early stages of labor. She is suppose to be a guide through the process. The reason I got interested in doulas is there are a bunch of statistics that if you have a doula, you are way less likely to have a C-section, use other medical interventions (like epidurals), and your average hospital stay goes down and success at breast feeding goes up (sounds all good to me). Anyway, we met with one last night and she was very nice and seemed like she would be a soothing addition to the labor room. I'm not sure how many I want to meet before I pick one, but she would deffinitly work.

A bit of a scare.

Well, what can I say. Babyhood is filled with the unexpected, and sometimes it comes as a surprise.

After our ultrasound, THE ultrasound (see earlier posts), the doctors took a good look at the images. They saw something that warrented a phone call. What they told Mandy on the phone sounded pretty scary at first, but now that we understand it, I think we'll be just fine.

What they found was a small cyst in the baby's brain area, specifically a "Choroid Plexus Cyst". It occurs in one area of the brain where there is some fluid, and is apparently found in 1 to 2% of all pregnancies at or around the 18th week (when the big ultrasound is typically done). Ok, so a cyst isn't necessarily bad. In fact Mandy has one of her own in the uterus with the baby right now! Heck, I bet most of us have cysts we don't even know about. The doctor even told us that some experts believe that every baby gets these cysts, some just disappear faster than others. The scary part is that this particular cyst can be an indicator of trisomy 18.

What is trisomy 18? Well, "trisomy" means 3 (tri) chromosomes (somy), and the 18 refers to the 18th chromosome (of the 23 pairs that we normally have). There are three trisomy occurances that one can have a baby born with, trisomy 13, trisomy 18 and trisomy 21. Trisomy 21 is commonly known as Down Syndrome. Three copies of any other chromosome is not at all viable, and these pregnancies don't last past the first trimester. Unlike trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), trisomy 18 is fatal. Depending upon the severity, the baby may die prior to birth, or very soon after. A very small percentage live past 1 years of age. It is associated with a wide variety of physical deformities and ailments ranging from a cleft lip, or missing thumb, to severe conditions like the stomach not being connected to the esophagous. Needless to say, when the doctor says there is some 'indication' of trisomy 18, we were worried.

Upon further review, there are other indicators. For example, we had a genetic test done which typically screens for 40 to 60% of genetic disorders (like trisomy 18). That test came out negative for us (meaning that there were no signs of any genetic disorder). Comforting, but not conclusive. More significant though, trisomy 18 is often associated with some kind of visible physical problem, like a missing kidney or something. On our ultrasound, they found every single organ where it was supposed to be, and all of the proportions were correct. It's kinda cool, they even estimate the due date of the baby based upon his cranium and femur size. Their estimate from this?... September 15. He is perfectly on schedule.

So, putting all of this information together... the chance of our child having trisomy 18 has been raised from 1 in 3000 (standard chance for all pregnancies) to 1 in 1400. In fact, not a big increase at all. If we wanted, we could get a diagnostic test done (an amniocentesis), which draws genetic material from the womb and looks directly at the chromosomes. The problem is that there is a roughly 1 in 200 chance that simply doing the test will cause a miscarriage. Considering that our baby is more than likely fine, the risk of doing the test is not worth it.

So there you have it. We are not at this time 100% sure that the baby does not have ttrisomy 18, but we are about 99.93% sure, which is pretty dang sure. If you are still worried for us, I recommend you go and build a 1400 sided die, pick a number, and give it a roll... just one roll. Did your number come up? Not bloody likely.

It is said that the cysts typically disappear by the 28th week, and we will look for that. For now, our little guy is looking good, on track for a perfect textbook arrival in September (just like his dad!), and maybe... but we not sure... maybe... starting to kick!

boys

Its funny, now that I know we are having a boy, boy children of all ages have suddenly become way more interesting. I am checking them out...what they are doing, what they are saying... I never had any brothers, so little boys are a bit of a mystery to me. Not quite as much as they could be since I have 2 nephews, but pretty close. So if any guys out there read this blog and they have favorite books they read as a kid, I'd love to know them. Somehow I don't think Jr is going to be in to Little House on the Prarie and the Secret Garden, but I guess you never know.

baby's finger

We got a great shot of the baby during our ultrasound adventure today (see post below).

At first glance, I thought the little one was flipping us the bird! But upon further review, we decided that the finger that is clearly visible is the index finger. Whew! Wouldn't want a rude baby.

It's a ...?

Today, Mandy and I went to get an ultrasound done to check on the baby. THE ultrasound. The one where (if we want) we can find out the sex of the baby. We're at the end of the 17th week now, and at this point, much of the little one's organs are developed.

The ultrasound tech asked us if we wanted to know if it was a boy or girl, and we told him yes, we did. Mandy lay back and the tech squeezed some clear goo on her belly and brought out the ultrasound. [For those who have never seen an ultrasound, it's pretty amazing technology. Bones and dense material show up a bright/white, and liquids are dark/black. The device produces an image that is a vertical slice. So sometimes it's obvious, but other times it can look fairly strange. Either way, it is a very cool way to see what is going on inside mandy's belly!].

While Mandy lay there, the tech surveyed around, getting images of the baby's head, heart, liver, stomach, femur, sacrum, pelvis, spine, ribcage, feet ... it was pretty cool to see. Then, without a lot of fan fare or warning, he turned the monitor toward Mandy and told her to look. The baby was cooperating quite well I would say, the view was clear. There, in the middle of the frame, were two bright little dots with a third little extension in the middle. Mandy gave a little yelp and declared "Oh! It's a boy!". The tech said, "yup, that's pretty clear I think". Sadly, he didn't get a picture, but believe me, there was no doubt about it.

So there you have it. We are now expecting a baby boy in September!

First wiggles?

I might have felt the baby's first movements this week! Once on Tuesday and once last night. It is hard to say though because they were over so quickly. It kind of felt like someone running their finger across my stomache, but from the inside. I don't know, it might be some new kind of indigestion. Maybe if it keeps happening I will be able to figure it out, but now when I try and feel movement all I get is my heart beat in my tummy, not nearly as exciting.

Starting to Blog!

Mike thought it was a good idea (and I agree) since we have friends and family all over the place if we kept a little diary of how our pregnancy is going for you all to follow along with us. I will have to post some old pictures of sonograms and my belly. Which, by the way, is almost reached the obviously pregnant point, but not quite, if I wear not fitting clothing you still can't tell. I think the people who work in my building just think I became a really sloppy dresser since Christmas.
We have a sonogram on Friday where we should be able to tell the sex of the baby. You can comment back and tell me which one you think it is going to be. I am not sure, at first Mike was convinced it was a girl, but now he thinks it is a boy. I will be glad to know so I can start refering to them as he or she insted of "it" or "the baby."
Anyway, this should be fun!