Wednesday, June 6, 2012

My Anatomy Scan + 2 out of 3

I cancelled my anatomy scan on Monday to stay home with my sick boy...who doesn't act very sick when he's sick, by the by. More on him later, but by the grace of God I was able to reschedule for the exact same time a mere 2 days later, which brings us to today.

I have a really cute baby. I know people say that about ultrasounds...and you think "how can you tell if it's cute? It's not even in 3D...it's all black and white"...but just look:
18 Week Anatomy Scan
A smile. Seriously! Heart = melted! Sweet little lips and a sweet little nose:
18 Week Anatomy Scan
This baby cooperated fully and gave an awesome profile! Big Brother did NOT cooperate for his anatomy scan and I never got "the" profile shot that every pregnant mama longs for. Here's a few more pics, they're pretty self explanatory.
18 Week Anatomy Scan
18 Week Anatomy Scan
18 Week Anatomy Scan
18 Week Anatomy Scan
And...lastly, can your almost 19 week old fetus do this? Cuz mine can!
Spock Baby!
Jay got a kick out of that one! And baby's heartbeat was 160 today.
18 Week Anatomy Scan
Jay had to stay home with Braden, as he's still contagious, so luckily I got all these great pictures to bring home. Baby looks perfectly healthy, all organs developed, a beautiful 4 chambered beating heart, bowels inside the belly, 2 kidneys, and that about covers all the stuff my pediatric nurse brain worries about at this point! We are also on Team Green for this baby too, meaning we aren't finding out the sex until delivery day!

So what does the "2 out of 3" in the post title mean? Well, baby's umbilical cord only has 2 out of the 3 vessels. Normally it has 2 arteries and 1 vein, mine only has 1 artery and 1 vein. The arteries carry deoxygenated blood & waste from the baby to the placenta, and the veins carry oxygenated blood & nutrients from the placenta to the baby. So apparently I fall into the 1% of pregnancies that have a single umbilical artery. Wow! I'm in fairly low company, but one of my good friends just delivered a healthy 7 lb 4 oz baby boy in January with the same cord 'abnormality'...I'm truly not worried, so please don't worry for me either.

Some more info for you:
  • 75% of babies are delivered healthy with no problems
  • 25% of babies can have heart, spine, or kidney defects - my baby has none of the above - praise God!
  • Slightly higher risk of congenital abnormalities, but as we all remember from my NT scan, I'm at extremely low risk as it is
  • Possible low birth weight
So where do we go from here? Squishy gets an echocardiogram (echo) at 23 weeks to take an even closer look at his/her beautiful heart that was functioning completely perfect today, and I get another ultrasound around 30 weeks just to check that Squishy is growing nicely. The way I see it? More pictures - yay!

I was also asked if I had bleeding with this pregnancy. I said a little bit of spotting in the first trimester, but nothing that concerned me, in fact, my spotting with Braden was worse. The ultrasound tech said there was a little membrane filled with blood that had collected by my cervix which usually indicates that the mom has had a bleed, which I haven't. I hadn't started blogging yet, but pretty much the same thing happened with Braden and that pocket burst at 27 weeks and I had a very scary morning with a big, one-time bleed. I'm praying this doesn't happen again, but at least I know if it does...it will likely be due to that membrane.

The wonderful thing about this radiology centre, is that the radiologist is right on site, did my report, and came and spoke with me about it after. He was so nice and kind (not what I think about when I do think about radiologists!) and told me he doesn't sugar-coat things and that my baby was perfect and healthy and we'll do the echo and extra scan at 30 weeks "just because we can". He also assured me that "Women have had 2 vessel cord babies since the beginning of time, we're just able to detect it in utero now with the amazing equipment we have now". My care doesn't change at all. I'm also not actively bleeding, which I made sure to ask, and Squishy is not at risk for developing heart, spine, or kidney defects as s/he grows. They would have happened already.

Part of me wishes they just wouldn't tell me this stuff. I'm truly not worried, I lean on God in times like this and let Him worry about it for me, as it's all in His hands anyway and there's nothing I can do to magically grow another artery in my umbilical cord. It's really comforting to be able to pray in times like this! But baby is measuring right on time...and I'm growing - trust me!
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34

Thanks for reading, I'm hoping to have more posts, more frequently again for you!
Sarah

26 comments:

  1. Squishy is adorable!! I am casting my 'bet' that Squishy is a little girl :)

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    1. Thank you, Heather! I am also still thinking girl!

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  2. I'm with Heather! Squishy was way more cooperative than Braden and? I think you make adorable children so a girl would be awesome! Plus, I'd be able to send you some cutesy bows and a tutu :):):)
    I'm so glad everything is looking good

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    1. Ugh, silly iPad wouldn't let me finish...
      Anyways, I'm super jealous of the amazing profile pic you got, Vera refused to cooperate for a good one!

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    2. Haha no worries! Braden did NOT cooperate for this ultrasound either, I did not get hardly one good pic of him! I would be so happy with a boy, but I'm aching for a girl!

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  3. Congratulations on the good ultrasound results! (And the great pics!!)

    We were team green with our first and I'm on the fence about finding out with this pregnancy. We have a few more weeks to decide though. ;)

    Happy to hear everything is looking good!

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    1. The idea of it is tempting...yet I was not tempted. The ultrasound tech was awesome, she just told me to look away when she was down at the legs!

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  4. These are fantastic pics!!! Love the sweet smile and hand! The anatomy scan is one of my fav parts of pregnancy! Glad to hear squishy is growing all the right parts!! :)

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    1. Thank you! The pics in itself are worth driving the extra mile to the city!

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  5. What great pictures Sarah! I am betting girl all the way!!!! I hope B feels better.

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    1. Thanks for your comment, as always, and for caring about B!

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  6. Hope Braden feels better!

    My first thought when you said 2 vessel cord... was oh it could be a LITTLE girl! I'm kinda twisted like that ;)

    Glad all his/her ultrasound went well & all appears to be where/how it belongs. As long as thats all good, I wouldn't really be concerned about the 2 vessel cord either. IUGR is about the only concern I would have as long as the big stuff is good.

    Plus.... how fun to see him/her a few extra times :)

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    1. Thanks for thinking of Braden, I did a post on that today!

      That's funny you say girl, my girlfriend who's baby also had a 2 vessel cord said that in her research more girl babies have that condition, but she had a boy - so there ya go!

      Yup, we'll monitor IUGR at my appointments with the old-fashioned way of measuring fundal height and then have another scan around 30 weeks, so that's good!

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  7. I can't believe all the pictures and information that you get. It's crazy but awesome for you. I wonder if that is what I had with Sophia, they just always told me there was an inconsistency with the cord.
    Squishy does look cute! I'm sure everything will continue to be all good :)

    I hope Mr. B feels better soon!!

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    1. Yes, it's been such a blessing to have found this centre! I think they would have seen if she had a 2 vessel cord???? But I'm no expert! But I am sure that all will be will with Squishy and Braden...I hope he feels better soon too!

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  8. Great pictures! I TOTALLY think it's a girl now. I would be so excited to send you tons of girly headbands!!!!! I've known two women who've had the two cord vessel and they both gave birth to GORGEOUS, BIG babies. More pics will be so fun!

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    1. Haha, it's amazing how many people think that! It's always great to hear of healthy babies born with this cord 'abnormality', it helps me to stay positive so thanks for sharing!

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  9. Beautiful pictures! Very interesting about the umbilical cord. I've never heard anything about the number of arteries it's supposed to have, so that part was pretty fascinating. So glad squishy is growing and developing nicely. :)

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    1. Yes, I'm praising God that s/he was measuring right on time and that the organs they worry about are all looking perfect!

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  10. Those pictures are unreal - especially the nose/lips. Amazing. Craig is jealous of the live long & prosper one lol. He was watching intently during the whole 3D video for the hands to do that but no cigar.

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    1. Yes! The nose/lips are my favorite, my tech was AWESOME! She said "don't you worry, I'll get you beautiful pictures of your baby - makes it so worth the $20 for the disc of all the pictures. I didn't know that Craig was a sci-fi fan!

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  11. Your ultrasound pictures are so great!! I love the profile one and the feet, always so cute! I'm voting girl as well ;-)

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  12. Congratulations on a beautiful happy healthy baby! I know how you feel about the cord thing I had placenta previa and my whole family was freaking out and I was like, y'all, chill! It just means I get more ultrasounds.

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    1. Haha nice! Good for you, it's actually calmed me even more seeing all your responses not making a "big deal" out of it!

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  13. So adorable, Sarah! Everything will be great!

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