Joke's on me

Well, ha ha. Don't I look the fool here? Turns out that the quad screen showed an elevated level of something-or-other-medical-sounding in my blood. The clinic called and said I needed to come in RIGHT NOW for a level II ultra-sound. Turns out the reason they were so urgent about it is because a high level of this particular whatever-it-is can indicate that the baby has died.

J managed to get to the clinic right before the ultrasound started and I have to say that all things considered he handled it all really, really well. As soon as the ultrasound wand was placed on my stomach we got to see the baby kicking wildly around. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw those kicks because they matched up with the little fluttering that I've been having in my tummy that I've been attributing to gas. The ultrasound tech said that the baby's placenta is all right up front so it's acting as kind of a cushion and that's why I might not be feeling the movement very strongly. Now that I know that it's movement though and not gas, I'm noticing that I feel it a lot more than I did before the ultrasound.

The ultrasound went very well. Everything looked just perfect. It's amazing how much detail can be made out. We could so clearly see every little bone it the baby's little hands. That was really neat. As far as the doctor could tell us this is just a case of "who knows why". Some people have elevated levels of something-or-other and no one really knows why. The plan now is to have me come back at 20 weeks for another blood test and level II ultrasound. If everything comes back normal then we'll just carry on as you would with any other pregnancy. If my levels are still elevated then they'll take the extra precaution of having me go to the hospital once a week (starting at 36 weeks) for labor monitoring just to make sure that the baby is not under any kind of stress.

The best part of the whole ultrasound was when I found out what B and J are having. I say I because J (in his typical ball of nerves fashion) got to nervous and didn't want to find out. Although how he couldn't tell after seeing the same thing I did on the screen I'll never know. It could not have been more clear and obvious that there was a tiny little penis right there in front of us on the screen. When the ultrasound tech leaned over and whispered "It's a boy." I just had to laugh. I'm 0 for 2 on guessing gender. I was certain that Elle was going to be a boy and I was pretty sure that this baby was a girl. One of these times I'll get it right.

After the ultrasound I had a little talk with J. I told him he needs to kind of cool it around me. I explained that when he's so stressed and nervous it makes me nervous. I also asked him to trust me to take care of myself and take care of the baby. He acknowledged that he's been a little over the top and that he probably needed to reel it in a bit. He told me what a great job he and B think I'm doing and that was really nice to hear.

I think the ultrasound ended up being a really good thing. It gave J and I a chance to talk about what's bugging me. It also gave him a chance to see that not every ache and pain and complaint involved with pregnancy is a sign of impending disaster. All around it was a good thing. Although I am a little embarrassed that I have to eat my words. I was so certain that the quad screen was going to come back totally normal.