Sneak Peek

Just wanted to give everyone an update (and sneak peek of Baby #2)!

On Wednesday Jeff and I met again with Dr. Joy at the CMC Women's Institute. We had a MUCH more positive experience and enjoyable ultrasound this time around. Mostly because we knew what to expect a bit more. But also because our ultrasound tech this time around was wonderful, kind, sweet and so complimentary of our little peanut (the tech we saw 3 weeks ago, not-so-much). She said the baby looked great and was so encouraged by what she saw. Yippee! And we heard a strong, steady heartbeat of about 160.

The right kidney continues to have extra fluid in it (it actually got worse - went from about 5mm to about 8mm, and they flag it if it is 4mm+) but the interestinal/bowel area looked much better. Truth is, not a whole lot changed overall. The same concerns were still there. However, we were VERY pleased that there weren't any NEW findings, which was our worse fear. They will of course continue to watch all of the above.

Hello, baby profile!

Perk of being "high risk": 3d ultrasound

Since baby was measuring a bit on the smaller side last time, they wanted to see a good amount of growth. Everything looked wonderful. Still measuring about a little over a week "off," but baby definitely showed three weeks of growth since last time. Baby's weight was estimated at about 13 oz.

We got a good look at the cleft lip and they TRIED to see the palate again. We could actually see the little tongue moving around but still no confirmation about the palate. So, the jury is still out on if it is affected. We have a scan in 4 weeks and we will be able to meet with a plastic surgeon after that to talk about treatment/surgery for the cleft lip and what we can expect. This will give us a general idea and let us prepare mentally for it, but until they see the baby they won't know for sure what they will recommend.

You can see the cleft in the lip in the below picture - it looked different from several angles, so it's hard to say what it will look like when baby is born. So in love with this face... (even though the print-out scan doesn't do the extreme cuteness justice.)

For now, we are going to concentrate on what we DO know and not what we don't. There is so much unknown and gray area, and based on the conversations I've had with others over the last few weeks I'm realizing how common it is for the ultrasounds to pick up the "soft markers" and the docs have to give you the rundown on what it "could" be.

Thank you so much for your prayers. They are helping us to remain calm and to know that God is in control of the situation. We have experienced so much love and are so encouraged by all of the support. We cannot say thank you enough. But just for good measure,

THANK YOU.

(Writing it all in caps makes it much more effective, yes?)