Two in one week

5.7.14

     We had decided to go to a high-risk OB this time around, also known as a Maternal-Fetal Specialist. Even though they never found anything wrong with me or with Kaitlyn to explain why her heart stopped, we figured it couldn't hurt to go ahead and double check everything with a specialist.
      We decided to go to the same specialist that Kate, Elyse, and my friend Elizabeth had all been too. They all raved about how caring she is and how at ease they made her feel. Kate had been through the loss of Piper when she saw this doctor, Elyse had lost Emma Kate, and Elizabeth was an older mom and decided to take extra precautions just in case.
       The office was just down from the house, and we had an early afternoon appointment to meet with Dr. Z. Alex actually beat me to the office and was sitting in the waiting room when I got there (he was a smidge excited, I think). We had been told by Dr. L and the girls that had seen Dr. Z that even though we weren't quite 13 weeks along they could tell the baby's gender, so I had a feeling that's what had Alex all excited about this particular appointment.
       We filled out the initial paperwork (I hate doing this- even at dentist appointments because it always asks about your previous surgical history. Now I will always have to write c-section times however many kiddos we have here, plus one for Kaitlyn), and then waited patiently to get called back.
        The appointment started just like any other: weight, blood pressure, a quick review of my history complete with the sympathies of the nurse (she was super nice), and then off to a large dark room where the ultrasound machine sat waiting. There was a small curtain that could be pulled closed by the door that would allow you to change without exposing yourself to the hallway, and after the nurse got done talking to us and giving us the prep of what all they would be able to tell us, she closed the curtain and then the door.
        I think I will always get nervous before a sonogram. It just brings back too many memories and images of waiting for the sonogram with Dr. L that morning with Kaitlyn. I always stare at the little black screen as the sonographer is putting the gel on the probe, just to be sure I don't miss any of the images of the little one growing inside me.
       The sonographer came in and asked how we were doing. I admitted to her that I was nervous, and she assured me that it was okay, and that they understood because they had quite a few patients that had been through what we had been through. She readied the probe and pointed out that on the wall directly in front of us there was a flat-screen TV that had been rigged to show all of the images from the ultrasound machine on a bigger format. That was pretty cool.
       The first image was of our little one, with distinctive legs and arms now, wiggling around. I couldn't feel any of it, but started giggling a little because he/she was moving around so much. The sonographer started pausing the images to take measurements, and turned on the doppler function for a split second to check the flow of the umbilical cord. Everything was normal. Everything looked good. Our little baby was growing like a weed.
        When all the boring images were done, the sonographer put down her tools. I asked her if she was able to tell the gender, but she told me that the way they tell the gender at this early stage is really more of a guess and the guesses are only about 85% accurate, and that she wasn't trained enough to even be able to take a guess. So we waited a little while longer for Dr. Z to come in.
         Dr. Z came in the room a few minutes later, with her long blonde hair pulled back in a pony tail and her bright blue eyes shining brightly. I happily told her all of the great referrals that had lead us to her, and she was very excited that we had so many "friends" in common. She had looked at all the initial sonogram readings and said everything looked right on track, but then she put more gel on the probe and began to look again.
         It was about mid-session on this look at the little one that I saw a few that just made me start laughing hysterically.

Those legs.

           It was Munoz #2 (who may now be referred to as Pumpkin) and the way pumpkin's legs were crossed at the ankles. It was exactly, exactly the way that Kaitlyn use to sit all the time. It made me laugh, and I pointed it out to Alex. "Think these two are siblings?!" I kept giggling. 

          

We make long legged babies.

             I think it was the first time that I truly connected with this baby, and yes, I do get the irony that the connection is because of Kaitlyn. I saw pieces of my sweet baby girl in this baby's personality already, and we weren't even far enough along to be able to feel any of pumpkin's movements.

            Finally, Dr. Z asked if we would like to know the gender. Alex had really wanted to know, and I just really didn't care that much. I would be happy to have a screaming baby come out of me. That's all I want. I don't care if it's a boy or a girl, I just want a healthy, LOUD baby. So since Alex was so excited to know, he pestered me to let him know the gender and he could do some kind of surprise for me to tell me the gender later that week (I gave him 3 days to figure out a plan because I didn't like the idea of him knowing for too long without me). 

            So, I turned my head and stared at the wall while Alex watched her decide what the gender was, and then she tucked the "answer" away in an envelope for him to use when he decided to tell me their guess on what this baby is. We finished up the appointment with some blood samples left on a paper that would determine the probability of us having a chromosomal defect (such as Downs Syndrome or Trisomy 18), and then we headed out to the car.