Ultrasound Update

I have so much to catch up on from last week, so I'd better get started! I'll start with the doctor's appointments. I had my much-needed ENT appointment last Wednesday and was disappointed to learn that the tubes the doctor had put in last time were plugged up with really dry, hard, thick mucous. But I guess that explains why my ears felt so blocked and why I was having so much trouble hearing. Dr. H said there was no way he could remove the tubes, but they will most likely fall out on their own as my ear drums heal and push them out. He said really all we could do was put in another set of tubes, so that's what we did.

Again he numbed my ear drum, made the holes, suctioned out the mucous, which is "like cement," according to him, and then popped in new tubes. He said I must have a "high pain threshold" because he really had to poke away at my ear drums this time (it was harder to put in the second set of tubes since space was already being occupied by the first set). As a child, my parents called me a "tough cookie." I don't know if I actually feel less physical pain than other people, or if I'm just more used to it, having been poked and prodded since infancy. Anyway, this time he prescribed some Ciprodex eardrops to try to keep the tubes open. He also suctioned some mucous from my nose and said the tissue looked a little swollen in there, but otherwise fine. So I've been applying 4 drops in each ear before bed, and so far I can tell the tubes are still open since I can blow air through them. I have another appointment in a couple of months so hopefully they will remain open at least until then.

Now on to the more interesting doctor's appointment that I had on Thursday morning. I had my 20 week appointment and anatomy scan, which was so cool! We got to see Ziggy wave at us with one hand, make a loose fist with the other, open his mouth (I wonder if he was swallowing the amniotic fluid like they say babies do), move his little hands and feet in a sort of punching motion, and in general, just act really cute (ok, so maybe I'm a little biased :) We were lucky and got a nice ultrasound tech who explained everything she was doing and pointed everything out to us. She even measured my cervix when I asked her to ( it's 3.5 cm, and she said anything over 3 is considered normal). She took a bunch of measurements, first of the placenta, amniotic fluid, umbilical cord, and all that, and then of the baby's body. She pointed out various body parts and organs to us, including the profile, palate, stomach, spine, leg bones, arms, feet, hands, nasal bones, mouth, kidneys, heart, and head, which were all normal. And he does not have situs inversus, like I do, so that's a good sign. Yay!

She said he has his left side toward my back, with the head down. Now that I know that, it makes more sense that I can't for sure feel his little kicks and jabs, since when he kicks, it doesn't go forward into my belly, but towards my side, probably into one of my other organs! AC also pointed out that when he was moving his arms and legs, he was keeping them pretty close to his body and wasn't really touching the walls of my uterus, so that may be another reason I can't feel him that well.

Although Ziggy had been cooperating throughout the ultrasound, of course just when it got to the point for her to examine his genitals, he curled up into a little ball, so it was hard to see anything. The ultrasound tech started wailing on my belly with the ultrasound wand to try to get him to move. I started laughing because the sensation kind of tickled, and I said I was glad I had emptied my bladder beforehand, otherwise I think I might have peed! Finally he moved enough, and she said, "So, do you want to know the sex?" and we were like "Yes!", and she said, "See that little white thing? That's his penis. It's a boy!" I asked her if she was sure, and she said yes, she wouldn't tell us if she wasn't sure. At that moment, I had such a mix of emotions: amazement, doubt, wonder, disappointment (yes, I'll admit, for a sec I did, but mainly it was because I was worried AC would be disappointed since I know how much he wanted a girl), awe, maybe a little fear, excitement, and happiness. I was just so amazed to be the first of the Polish maternal line in at least five generations (if not more) to have a boy!

Anyway, they gave us a printout of some images from the ultrasound and also a DVD, which we'd brought so they could record on to it. Apparently they don't record everything on it, only what they can (what does that mean? is it for legal reasons?). We haven't had a chance to look at the DVD yet, but AC did scan the images onto his computer, so I'll post those as soon as I can get them onto my laptop. The ultrasound tech also told us that Ziggy's heart rate was 153, he weighed 12 oz, and was measuring at 20 weeks, 2 days, so 2 days ahead! As AC said, he's about the size of a steak!

After the ultrasound, it was the usual drill. I gave a sample of urine, got weighed (up only 2.5 lbs since last time, which just proves that not all the weight was real last time--some of it had to be extra fluid and food since my appointment was right after lunch), had my blood pressure measured, which was normal, and talked briefly with the nurse, who asked me if I'd felt any movement yet. I said I'd felt something for a while, but could never be sure it was really him. I asked her about Ziggy's heart rate going over 200, and she said I should ask Dr. W about that. I mentioned that I occasionally experience mild cramping, and she said that's normal. I also gave her the info to have my records sent to my next MFM doctor in California.

While we were waiting for Dr. W, AC and talked about the baby, and it turns out he wasn't disappointed about having a boy. He did say that this makes him more inclined to have another kid and suggested that maybe we could even do sex selection with our frozen embryos next time. I have heard that sometimes they'll do that if you already have one child, so we'll see. I do hope the next one is a girl, since I want one of each. If it's another boy, I'll be so tempted to have another baby, and AC is pretty adamant about only having two.

Anyway, Dr. W came in, told me it was normal for baby's heart rates to get that high temporarily, especially before 20 weeks, although he did say my lips looked dry and I was probably dehydrated, so I should make an effort to drink as much fluid as possible. He also said that Ziggy looks healthy and is growing normally, except for one thing. He has what's called a choroid plexus cyst in his brain, which can be a "soft marker" for chromosomal abnormalities, mainly Edward's Syndrome, also known as Trisomy 18, which generally results in death within a few weeks of birth. However, due to my age, lack of family history, and negative quad screen result, Dr. W thinks the risk is very low. I'll have more ultrasounds between 28-32 weeks to check to see if the cyst has resolved (which they usually do) and to recheck Ziggy's growth and organs. I'll return for my next appointment at 25 weeks, when I'll have the glucose tolerance test to check for gestational diabtetes.

Despite Dr. W's reassurance, I was still worried, so I did some research on my own. For once, Google made me feel better rather than worse, as I discovered that choroid plexus cysts are quite common and almost always are not a sign of Trisomy 18, especially if the mother is young, the quad screen was negative, and there were no other findings on the ultrasound. In fact, there's some controversy in the medical community as to whether choroid plexus cysts should be considered "soft markers" at all. SH also reassured me that choroid plexus cysts are common in ultrasounds done between 18-20 weeks and usually resolve on their own, so that makes me feel better. So right now I'm just trying to stay positive and think of this as a good thing, since it means we get to see more of our baby boy!