Baby BOY and a Two Vessel Cord

We found out a couple weeks ago that we are indeed having a boy. We are SO very excited!!! We had the big "20 week" ultrasound at 19 weeks 3 days where we found that out and then they went thru and measured all of his limbs and his head circumference and we saw his heart beating and all of that fun stuff. He looked great besides some fluid in both his kidneys that they said is very common in baby boys and almost always drains out by the time of birth. But they want to keep an eye on that.

Then they took a look at my ovaries and I have a small cyst on one of them. They discovered this at the 12 week ultrasound and said not to worry then, and then said not to worry now either. They said it was pretty small and should just disappear on its own. Then they discovered that my placenta was sitting a little too low, very close to the cervix. The cut off for being concerned about a low lying placenta is 3 cm and guess what, mine was right at 3 cm. The Dr said he was certain that it would move up and away from the cervix but it was something that warranted an extra ultrasound so they could make sure. I won't argue against extra ultrasounds!

Then they noticed something with my umbilical cord. I could tell during the ultrasound that something wasn't right because they were measuring everything with the baby and she would be like, "Here's the left femur" and then a couple minutes later, "Here's the right forerm" and then she got to the umbilical cord and said, "Here's your umbilical cord" and then she kept on looking at it and looking at it and getting different angles of it and it seemed like forever she was stuck looking at the cord so I figured something was going on with that. Sure enough, in meeting with the Dr about the pictures, he told me that I had a two vessel cord.

What is a two vessel cord? Basically in a regular umbilical cord, there are two arteries and one vein. For whatever reason, I only developed one artery in my cord. According to my pregnancy book, the one vein carries nutrients and oxygen from me to the baby and then the two arteries carry the baby's waste back to the placenta and my blood. So I am missing one of those arteries. Only about 1% of all single births develop a two vessel cord. Go figure I would get that! My primary OB said it was of no worry at this point. The growth of the baby will be closely monitored for the rest of the pregnancy. In most cases, the baby is delivered early, but completely healthy.

So we got to go back a week later to the Maternal Fetal Medicine center and got another whole ultrasound to check the growth of everything again. The fluid that were in his kidneys had completely drained out of one and had gone down quite a bit in the other so that is no longer anything they need to worry about. My placenta also moved up! It measured 3.14 cm away from the cervix so that also got crossed off the list. But I do indeed have the two vessel cord. This tech turned on the "color" which was the blood flow to and from in the cord and you could see where it was missing a line of color. It was neat to see tho. So the recommendation from the MFM Center was periodc ultrasounds and then at 31 weeks, weekly ultrasounds. As soon as the placenta quits supporting the baby, then he will be delivered. They also stressed this is not something to worry about, I can go about all my normal activities. They just monitor the growth closely because there is a chance he can be born with a low birth rate. The MFM OB also did say they would recommend a fetal echo on his heart because there is a 1% chance he could develop heart disease so they just want to make sure that is OK. But the baby was measuring right at 20 weeks, 3 days, right on track so for now we are good to go! :)

In other news, he is very active!!! His favorite times to move are right after I eat and after I lay down. I wish Mike could feel him. I laid on the couch last night to watch the Vikes game and he was all over the place so I told Mike and he put his hand on my belly. Twice I got a little kick or punch (I can't tell the difference quite yet) right where Mike's hand was but Mike couldn't feel it. It shouldn't be much longer before he can. :)

I think he already looks kind of like Mike. Based on this picture he looks like he has Mike's head shape and Mike's mouth. :) I can't wait to see him when he is born. Here is another of my favrite pictures:

Baby Feet willl get you everytime! :)

19 Weeks

I'm 19 weeks along tomorrow! Yay! Monday I get the 20 week ultrasound where we get to find out the sex of the baby. I am so excited to know one way or the other. I have found that people are very opinionated on whether you should find out or not. I find it a strange thing to be so opinionated about. I want to find out because 1) I can and 2) it makes it a little easier to start planning the room and thinking of names and 3) why not?? Someone I had a discussion about this with did not find out what they were having until it was born and made the argurment well you just paint everything yellow and green, neutral colors, and you pick out a couple names for both genders. They also said it was like having Christmas all over again when the baby is born and its a surprise. I don't know, I just want to know. Luckily Mike does too and so does everyone in our family so it was a no brainer for us. The baby just has to cooperate on Monday! :) Things seem to be going along fairly smoothly. I have battled a pretty bad cold most of this week but finally feel like I am on the other side of it so that is good. I know the baby is safe and cozy in there and still getting all the nutriets it needs. But I still feel bad I haven't been well. My bump doesn't seem to be growing any bigger but I suppose I scrutinize it everyday, every time I am in front of a mirror. :) I am going to a baby shower for another friend that is pregnant on Saturday and I haven't seen some of those ladies in some time so I am interested to see what they think of my bump. A friend of mine told me a lot of bumps don't really 'get going' until around the 6 month. So maybe then it will start getting big. :) Other than that, everything is just chugging right along. I can't believe I am already almost half way done with being pregnant. When I first found out I was pregnant, it felt like it would take forever to get to the 20 week ultrasound, and here it is, just a few days away. :)