Baby On Board

Today was our first appointment with the normal OBGYN. We got to see another ultrasound. It's really cool. While still tiny and the picture grainy, we could make out the body, the arms and legs, the spine and the head, and best of all, the face. It was hard to see, but she pointed out the eyes. We got another printout. In The Pregnancy Journal it said that soon the eye lids will form and temporarily fuse together. Very interesting how God puts all these different things in motion and after 9 months, out comes a fully formed tiny human. Very humbling. In five weeks, we go in for another checkup, including a blood test that can screen for all kinds of things. After that, every four weeks or so, with an ultrasound at 20 weeks and maybe one more in the 7th or 8th month. They don't have the 3D ultrasound, but told us of a few places nearby that will do it for a fee. And they also said that they deliver all of their babies at the nearby very prestigious probably world renowned hospital. Cool.

Our friends who are at 20 weeks had the blood test recently and the protein level was high. That can indicate downs syndrome, but it also has a very high rate of false positives. They had to meet with a genetic counselor who really wanted them to have an amneocentisis(sp?) done but they refused because it can sometimes cause miscarriage. The amneocentisis can confirm whether or not a baby has downs. It may also be a more accurate indicator of additional things, but I'm not educated enough to say what. The counselor was really pushing for it, but our friends were like "Why? We're having this baby no matter what. We're not going to do anything that can jeopardize their health."

Exactly how we feel.

A "Chinese Pregnancy Calendar" taped to the reception desk predicts our child will be a girl.