Happy, Healthy, Active Baby (Phew!)

I went to my emergency ultrasound yesterday. It was kind of a rough morning, since hubby had already been awake 24 hours (he left work at around 2 am or so and crashed when he got home, so he got a few hours); however, waking him up was tough. Finally, I had to start threatening to leave him if he didn't get up. That got him moving.

We hit the road and headed to the hospital, where I've never been before. I got a little lost, then (with Hubby's help) figured out where I needed to be. I felt really dumb when all the signs I'd been looking for, all of a sudden appeared when he started to help. We parked and headed inside the massive building. The landscaping is breathtaking! Lots of flowers and small, very Asian waterfalls. We took the elevator to the fourth floor and I preceded to fill out paperwork and more paperwork. I also let them know that I'd drank 32 ounces of water before getting there (even though no one told me to, but I wanted to be safe). They let me know that I was far enough along that I didn't need to, so they pointed me in the direction of the nearest ladies room (thank God!).

After I emerged, the technician saw us in and asked me to get on the the table/bed. She slathered my belly in goo and started the ultrasound process. The baby was beautiful, no matter what anyone else thought. I could see the large eye sockets and new that this one would also have the saucer-eyes that are so prevalent in my family. My daughter's eyes are gorgeous! Anyway, the technician is taking all sorts of measurements and showing all the cute baby parts (meanwhile, the DVD is recording everything. I was very happy about this). Then, Jean (the technician says, "Do you know what the baby is, yet?"
"Nope," I say.
"Do you want to know?"
"Heck, yeah!"

So, with a little maneuvering and shifting of my belly, she gets a picture of the baby's little bum. Before she says a word, I see the "golden arches" and know for myself. It's a girl! She confirms my thoughts aloud. Well, hubby is thrilled (cause he's done the "girl" thing before and knows what to do). My daughter seems happy too, now referring to the baby as her baby sister. It was good news, but the terrific news was when Jean said, "Everything looks great to me," words I've needed to hear for two weeks.

Next, the counselor comes in and tells us about the stats and that I rank 1 out of 250 to have a baby with Down's syndrome. Then he says that, based on all the measurements they've taken for the ultrasound, I have a 99.8% chance of having a perfect child. Hallelujah! My heart is at ease and I thank the counselor over and over again. He says, if I need the validty, I can have an amnio and I was like, "You know, for a .2 percent piece of info, I think I'll forgo the big scary needle and risk of miscarriage, thank you very much." He seemed to agree. The Maternal Fetal doctor (Doctor Andres) came in and talked to us a bit after the counselor left and he confirmed everything. Then he let us know that there is more of a chance that a baby is born with birth defects than Down's...1 in 30, to be accurate. I couldn't believe it! I'd never heard those numbers before. Women are more likely to have children with birth defects than a child with Down's.

After the visit, we leave the exam room and we head of out the hospital. I spent the rest of the day at home and had lovely Chinese for lunch and dinner (I ended up working four hours from home yesterday afternoon). I got a lot more done than I thought I would. Hubby worked out, then came home and crashed for an hour or two. We talked baby names for a bit but, we have nothing concrete yet.

Today has been a really good day, simply because I have the peace of mind I've needed for so long. I feel so much better and am anxiously awaiting the day when I can meet my next baby girl, who will hopefully be happy and healthy.