The Good, the Bad and The Ugly.

Sorry (again) that it's taken me awhile to update...my and baby's first trip to Sundance made us both tired and we needed some time to recoup.   So where were we?  

First a brief Sundance recap.  12 days in the snow.  Working 10+ hours a day in the press office.  Fun Stuff.  Tried my best to see as many movies as possible but with working until nightfall and the overall exhaustion that pregnancy brings I was lucky to average one a day.  Midnight screenings?  Hahahahahhaahahah...not a chance.  I tried one, fell asleep in the first 10 minutes.  The place I stayed was lovely, if a bit remote.  I had to trudge thru first the woods then a snowy field to get to my bus station that was pitch black when I came home at night.  Tales of moose and elk in the area had me completely freaked out so I found myself singing out loud the few times I had to do it: "you can be as brave, as you make believe you arrrre..."  

Baby was very good for the trip.  Some cramping on the plane ride over but then really nothing for the entire time I was in Utah.  Most people couldn't even tell I was pregnant for the first few days - at least until I wore something a bit more form-fitting.  

February 4, 2009

Today's the day of my "big" Level II Ultrasound and Genetic Counseling.  No one had really clued me in on what to expect and I didn't research it at all since I had already had one ultrasound and thought "How different could it be?"  Guess I should have guessed something was up when they sent me a few towns away to get it done.  Briefly, your first sonogram is basically just for them to average the age of the baby by doing some quick measurements.  Any radiologist could do it and you're in and out, 20 minutes tops.  At the Level II, you go to a radiologist that specializes in maternal/fetal measuring.  And measure they do.  Every little bit of the baby to make sure all is progressing nicely.  Takes about 2 hours all told.  The last time I had to crane my neck to the right to see the same screen the tech was looking at.  Here they had a nice flat screen tv mounted at the foot of my bed to watch the proceedings.  Hate to say it, but most of it just looks like blurry things swishing back and forth.   There were times I was actually bored and wondered if I could change the channel.  But then something comes up that you recognize.  The spine.  The beating heart.  The bottoms of little feet.  And you're holding you're breath waiting for the next thing to appear.  The genetic counseling part was informative.  We actually started there and the nice counselor explained why they were measuring, to see if there were any physical markers for Down Syndrome, or Trisomy 13 or 18.  There were charts and diagrams and she asked about our family medical histories, which aren't that exciting.  

Back at the ultrasound, I was watching the tech's face carefully.  If they see something wrong, it's not their job to tell you.  They have to report their findings to the doctor, then the DOCTOR has to come in and tell you.  I noticed that my tech frowned once at the very beginning of my ultrasound but then proceeded to get chatty and pointed stuff out.  So I wasn't worried.  She stepped out and they asked if the trainee who had been in the room the whole time could "take a look" so she did, and explained a bit more in depth what she was measuring.  Then the first tech came back in and said that the doctor looked at the pics and wanted me to have an internal done to look at something a bit more closely.  Ugh.  Internals are done with a wand-like probe.  Need I say more?  It's not as bad as I thought though, done in 15 seconds and she's off with the pics again.  

About 10 minutes later the doctor comes in and gives us the good news and the not-so great news.  The Good:  Good news is that the baby looks fine and everything is measuring where it's supposed to be.  The Bad:  The not-so-great news is that I currently have marginal placenta previa, which means that the placenta is too close for comfort to my cervix.  1.5 cm. to be exact.  They say this is common at this stage of the pregnancy and it will hopefully move up as my uterus expands.  I think to ask, "but what if it doesn't?" - not for myself, I already know the answer but for Jake's benefit.  But the doctor doesn't want me to worry, so he says "we'll worry about that when and  if we get there.  97% of these things correct themselves." Which is reassuring.  In the parking lot I explain to Jake that if it doesn't move up, I'll have to be scheduled for a c-section as a traditional delivery could cause excessive bleeding.  I really calm about all of this though.  I have faith.  In God.  The Doctors.  Modern medicine in general.  So I'm sure that however it ends up happening, it will all be fine.  

The Ugly:  So here are the pics from the Level II ultrasound.  The first one is OK, but the second one of floating baby skull head is a little freaky, no?  I hate to say it, but the earlier sonogram's pics came out better.  Don't ya think?