Weeks 18-20

January 8, 2013

Scott and I had another appointment with Dr. Brown. I was nervous but excited because this was the appointment when 1. I’d have my blood drawn for the AFP test, and 2. We’d get to schedule our appointment for our 20-week ultrasound! I was 18 weeks, 3 days along.
 

The appointment went very well. Quick, which we’re always grateful for – the quicker the appointment, the less drama! Baby’s heartbeat was around 150 BPM and sounded fantastic. Dr. Brown is always excited to hear a healthy heartbeat! He went through the usual questions, then started telling us about the AFP test. He didn’t remember right off the bat if we’d had it done before so I told him that was what alerted us to something being wrong with our last pregnancy, which led to us having our ultrasound done at the MFM last time instead of in-house. So he went ahead and ordered the AFP for us then asked if we wanted to do the ultrasound there or at the MFM again.
 

I was caught off guard a little because I didn’t think that would be an option – which I told him hahah. He said, “Let’s have you go ahead and schedule it at the MFM. That way we’ll cover all our bases.” The MFM has a much higher-quality ultrasound than regular doctor’s offices and they’re equipped to look for more things should something abnormal arise. So I actually felt really good about being able to go back there, even though we don’t have the best memories associated with it.
 

Deb, Dr. Brown’s nurse, called St. Mark’s hospital and got us scheduled at the MFM for Friday, January 18^th at 10:00am. She said she and Dr. Brown would be out of town the rest of the week, but I could still call for my AFP test results. She said, “If it were me in your situation, I’d call everyday until they got them in!” She also told us she’d be anxious to see the results herself and wished us all the best of luck!
 

I didn’t call everyday, but I did call Thursday. One of the other nurses took my call, but my results weren’t in yet. Honestly, I thought I should have felt more nervous, but I truly felt that everything was going to be fine - its how I’ve felt all along really. I often think worrying thoughts, but they don’t last long. The majority of my feelings are nothing but calmness and peace. So, I decided to wait until Monday to call when Deb got back so I could ask her for the results.

Monday, January 14^th rolled around (far too quickly as Mondays always do!) and it was just after 8:30am when I got a phone call from the doctor’s office. It was Deb! She asked how I was and if I’d received my test results yet, and I told her no. Negative! Everything looked perfectly normal, exactly as it should! I did feel relief hearing those words hahah and she was so excited for us! She actually said she looked up the results first thing getting to work that morning because she was dying to know! Normally she won’t call a patient if the results are normal, but she wanted to make sure we knew everything was looking good! She wished us luck for our ultrasound and said she couldn’t wait to hear all about it! 

The rest of the week seemed to drag by! I was so excited for Friday – especially after hearing our test results were normal. I actually took a half-day Friday so I could go to my appointment and enjoy the rest of the day with Scott. Unfortunately Scott fell sick during the week. Luckily it wasn’t nearly as bad as most people’s illnesses (the flu and terrible colds were going around) and he only missed one day of work. But he was pretty miserable all the same!

 

Finally Friday the 18^th arrived. I went to work at 6am and left at 9am so I could go pick Scott up and get to our appointment on time. It was weird coming back, I’ll admit it. It had been over a year since I’d been to this part of the hospital – not since the day I was released after having Kyden. So I did have memories flood my mind as we found a parking spot and made our way to the elevator. You would think I’d remember what floor the MFM was on, but alas I did not. We went to the second floor, then the first floor, then the third floor – which was the correct one. Once we found the floor we made it just fine.

It was nice that the weather was so different - blue skies and frigid instead of rainy and gloomy. It did make a difference in atmosphere! I didn’t even have to sign in – just walked up to the counter and told her who I was and they said to have a seat and they’d take me back shortly. We sat in the waiting room for maybe 5 minutes when the technician called my name and took us back to the same room that had rocked our world over a year ago.
 

I didn’t ask this technician her name, but she was super friendly. She’d read up on our history so was very up to speed on why we were there for an ultrasound. She was really easy to talk to and made us feel comfortable and calm, knowing we were a little nervous. Soon I was situated comfortably and she told us she’d record the entire session for us on DVD! I was so excited for that! She also asked if we wanted to know what we were having, which I said YES, definitely! So she got started and was explaining everything as she went along. And as she did her measurements she would reassure us that everything is looking exactly as it should, which made us feel elated!
 

I was struck by how different this ultrasound looked. Scott and I could both follow along fairly easily because of the knowledge gained from all our previous ultrasounds. But at the same time it was like experiencing it for the first time. Kyden’s ultrasound was so alien, even for an ultrasound. To see this baby up on the screen was a miracle – because rather than the abnormal swelling that we saw with Kyden, everything looked normal for this baby. And we watched him move and squirm around, which again is something Kyden rarely did.
 

After being reassured over and over again that everything was looking normal, I think Scott and I were most excited to find out whether we had a baby Scott or a baby Shaylee on the way. I was worried the baby would hide his/her goodies but it was actually VERY clear that we had another little boy on the way! Both of us were actually pretty surprised as was everyone we told. With the exception of one co-worker, everyone guessed we’d have a girl. I thought we would have a girl because of how different this pregnancy was. I was much sicker and had some very different symptoms, but apparently that doesn’t mean squat. Because it’s a boy!

We knew we’d be thrilled either way. Again, all we were hoping for was HEALTHY. Gender is exciting to find out but it’s definitely not the most important thing to us.
 

The rest of the appointment went wonderfully. After the tech finished her measurements, the doctor came in and went over everything with us again. He also reassured us that everything looked wonderful, knowing about our history with Kyden. It was elating to lay on the bed and see our baby and hear that everything is going well. I kept thinking, “This is how it should have been last time!” It was a completely different experience. We were so excited to get a copy of the ultrasound on DVD that we could share with our families. And it felt SO nice to be able to leave that building with a smile rather than in tears!