Another Ultrasound

I had another ultrasound today to check on our baby, so I thought I'd give you all another update. Although they were fairly sure at the last ultrasound, we are now positive our baby is a little boy. At 19 1/2 weeks our baby boy is growing normally. His major organs look good and are in correct places, and that is a positive. We'll have the echocardiogram in a couple weeks to look at his heart in great detail. The cystic hygroma (fluid) has decreased (good), but there is thickening of the skin on the neck around the fluid (not good). The skin thickening is often indicative of a chromosome or genetic abnormality, so the status there hasn't changed much. The doctor also had concerns about one of his feet. It looked like there was a chance of a foot deformity. She couldn't tell if it was just how he was positioned or if there was a problem. A deformity could be an indication of trisomy 18 or another problem. We'll see later on how his foot looks. Overall it was wonderful to have an update and see my little boy even when there isn't really a change in what we know.

My Husband

I just felt the need to brag a little bit about my amazing husband. He is an incredible person, employee, father, and husband. Here are a couple stories to illustrate that.

Jason got an award from work today. He was nominated by his last manager for "above and beyond" performance. It also comes with a monetary award. Nice on all accounts.

In addition to being an outstanding employee, he's an outstanding dad. Busy season (which is happening right now) means long hours. That means Katelyn doesn't get to see him during the week. Last night as Katelyn was getting in bed I said a prayer with her like usual. However, after this prayer she started crying and saying "daddy prayer". After questioning her for a bit I discovered she was crying because she wanted Dad there to pray too. I held her and told her I felt the same way. She calmed down a bit and then said, "Daddy song?" We sang the "daddy song" twice and then she was able to go to sleep. The lyrics to what we call the "daddy song" are:

I’m so glad when daddy comes home,
Glad as I can be;
Clap my hands and shout for joy,
Then climb upon his knee,
Put my arms around his neck,
Hug him tight like this,
Pat his cheeks, then give him what?
A great big kiss.

I told Jason this story last night. Today he arranged with his team to go into work a little late and stay later tonight. Katelyn and I got some extra time with him this morning, and we loved it. Several times this morning Katelyn declared energetically, "See daddy time!" Her dad read books to her and played with her. She had a fantastic morning. So did I.

I'm so grateful to be married to such a remarkable man!

Ultrasound Update

I had an ultrasound on Monday, and it was good news. Our baby has grown at a normal rate, and the cystic hygroma has not grown. It is still there, but much smaller in comparison to the baby. Hopefully this means it will resolve on its own...and at least the cystic hygroma is not growing any larger. We also found out that they're pretty sure we're having a little boy! That rules out Turner's Syndrome (the most common chromosome defect with hygromas). Only girl can have Turner's Syndrome.

We'll have another ultrasound in 3 weeks. Hopefully it is more good news. In 6 weeks they'll do an echocardiogram to get a full look at his heart to check for any structural defects on the heart.

Thank you again for all of your thoughts and prayers. They mean a lot.

It's amazing how much this ultrasound and some positive news have helped me. Physically I still feel the same, but I have been so productive and happy since this news. When I was trying before to stay positive and relaxed it obviously wasn't working as well as I would have liked. My headaches have lessened the past 2 days. I'm pretty sure that's just because I'm able to relax more. I'm feeling so blessed.