Part 5 - Goin' to the doctor and we're..gonna see our baby...

It was a beautiful Florida October day, and my mom, my husband, ArtyBee (he'll kill me if he knows I'm calling him that!) and I are sitting in the waiting room of the Perinatologist. First off, I have to tell you that I was told to drink 32 oz of water prior to the appointment, because enlarging the bladder helps bring the baby closer to the ultrasound wand. So I'm sitting there, in agony, because I have to pee like I've never had to pee before. And they are running late!! After what seems like an hour (but was probably only 15 minutes) of me holding it in, feeling sick and actually starting to sweat, the sweetest of all ultrasound technicians comes to get me. I couldn't be mad at her, for one because I know that going to the doctor is not like going through the drive through at McDonald's - not everything is on the menu, and two because the U.T. was just SO NICE. I told her immediately that I was really uncomfortable and she said, "Let's take a quick look and see if we can let you release some of that urine."

So, she puts on some of the freezing blue jelly and touches the ultrasound wand to my abdomen and immediately starts laughing. There is a screen to the side of my head that she is looking at, and there is one directly in front of me, and there on the screen is the shape and size of a football. My bladder! The amniotic sac and baby are way down in the corner of the screen, looking like they are being squished by my football of a bladder. "Yeah, you should probably just go ahead and empty your entire bladder," she told me. I was SO relieved that I could relieve myself!

Finally, when the ultrasound was underway, the U.T. was taking measurements of various things - the brain, the kidneys, the stomach, the length of the baby, and so much more. She then asked, did we want to know the sex of the baby? I almost said, I know it's going to be a girl, but I didn't, because then I probably would have been wrong. After confirmation, she showed us an image on the screen and said, "Do you see these three things?" And immediately, I felt crushed - I thought, Oh, no! It's a boy! She's going to say it's a winkie and testicles! I looked at ArtyBee and our eyes met and I knew I must have looked so disappointed. Then the U.T. said, "Those are little girl parts!"

I think I squealed with delight and for the second time in a half an hour, I was relieved! Then I started to cry I was so thrilled. Finally, the U.T. put an image up on the screen that I could actually make out what it was - it was a side profile of the baby's head/face, and she was beautiful.



The U.T. excused herself so she could meet with Dr. K, and discuss the ultrasound film that he will be interested in (and view on a computer in his office.) After a few minutes, and another round of introductions, Dr. K took a few more images that he wanted to double check on, then stated that I should go ahead and wipe off the jelly and we should meet him in their conference room. He was very pleasant and calm, as was the U.T., so I had no reason to believe that this was out of the ordinary. My mom excused herself to make a few work related phone calls while we met privately with Dr. K.

In the private room, we all were seated around a large round table. Dr. K took a deep breath, and that's when I got a chill at the back of my neck. My eyes got blurry and a high pitched tone invaded my hearing. I heard things like "excessive fluid in the ventricles of the brain," and "absent nasal bone". What does any of that indicate? I'm not sure if I ever asked the question, but I got the answer anyway. "If it were just one of these alone, I wouldn't even mention it, but both of them together are indicative of Down Syndrome."