Final Amnio Update & 26 Weeks

As most of you have probably already heard, I got a phonecall from the doctor on Thursday morning with our final amnio results.  As with the first results, these also came out "normal", so Logan has 46 perfect chromosomes :).  We're very happy and relieved to have these results so that we can move on and focus on his heart.  The doctor scheduled the echo ultrasound, which will be done by the cardiologist, for February 14th.  She will be looking at a special sweet heart on Valentine's Day :).  Jason will be in Brazil for work, but his mom said she will go with me.

I'm still feeling a lot of kicking and movement, which is great.  I've been getting a little nervous whenever I don't feel anything for a large part of the day, but I think he's just sleeping :).  I sat on the couch yesterday and watched my belly moving for a few minutes.  It was very very cool to see his kicks from the outside :).

Sleeping at night can still be a challenge, but I keep switching up my pillows, which seems to help.  I've had to start getting out of bed differently for potty breaks.  Since my stomach is growing, I have to swing my legs off the edge of the bed, then boost my upper body with my arms and then I can stand on the floor.  It gets interesting some nights, especially if I'm not quite awake yet, ha :).

It's getting harder to put my socks & shoes on and taking care of my feet is nearly out of the question.  I finally got a pedicure on Friday because my toenails were getting out of control.  I just have to say that even though pedicures are great anytime, they're about 10x better when you're pregnant!  The massage chair nearly put me to sleep and then the foot and leg massage (don't worry, it was a light massage) was amazing!!!  Now I can wear open-toed shoes without cringing whenever I look down... and yes, I can still see my feet when I look down :).

Jason painted the nursery today and it looks great!  Lots of people have asked what we're painting it, etc., so I'll tell you the plan.  He painted it a beige color since I'm not sure how long we'll be in this house and I want to be able to use it for a girl's room someday if we need to.  We're going to put some car-related decals on the wall (cars, trucks, streets, etc.) and I'm going to paint letters in light blue to spell out his name and hang them on the wall.  Other than that, we'll just have furniture in there and that will probably be it.  I'm wanting to get a pack 'n play for downstairs, though, and I'm going to use a jungle theme for that (and his bouncer, swing, etc.).  I'm excited to see it all come together and now that the room is painted, I'm even more eager :).

A few people have made comments lately that I'm "really starting to show".  In my opinion, I've been showing for a few months, but I guess it's pretty obvious now :).  I don't mind at all, because I love being pregnant.  My belly button is starting to push out a little, so I'm sure that'll "pop" soon and even more people will notice my belly.  What I find most funny is that hardly anyone at my work has said anything.  I think they're being careful and they don't want to assume that I'm pregnant, but my belly has grown since I started working there :).  Oh well... I'm sure it'll be pretty obvious to them in the next month or two :).

Welp, I guess it's time for the new developments:

• Your baby continues to grow and develop inside of you. Measuring about 14 inches long, he weighs just less than 2 lbs!
• His lungs continue to develop and he is taking small breaths of amniotic fluid inside your womb. These small breaths are getting him in shape for his first breath of fresh air.
• His veins are visible through his transparent skin but soon that will change as his skin begins to turn opaque.
• The nerve pathways are becoming more and more developed, making him more responsive to sound. Don't be surprised if you feel him jump inside you if he is startled by a sudden noise.
• If you're having a boy, his testicles are descending into his scrotum this week.

Sorry that some of the info is a bit TMI, but hey, things have to happen for little boys! :)

Thanks again to everyone for your support and prayers :).  God is so good and we are thrilled to have the results that we prayed for.  Please continue to pray for the hole in his heart to close on its own.  If it doesn't, then that's God's plan, but we will still pray :).

Have a great week and I'll be back for #27!

Initial Amnio Results

I'm sorry I'm posting this late, but I think most people read my post on facebook about this :).  Anyway, if you haven't read yet, we got the initial results back from my amniocentesis.  Chromosomes 13, 18, and 21 came back normal :).  We're very thankful and relieved!  We won't get the rest of the results until sometime between the middle and end of next week, but we continue to pray for clear results :).  I'll try to update everyone as soon as I can with that news!  Thank you again for all of your prayers :).

Ultrasound #3 & Amniocentesis

We had our 3rd ultrasound today with the same doctor as last time.  His assistant started out by doing a complete ultrasound with all of the measurements of little Logan.  He cooperated for the most part, especially when she was looking at his boy parts... he seems to be very proud of those ;).  Once she was finished, the doctor came in and reviewed her pictures & clips and he then did another mini-ultrasound to look at the heart for himself.  Here are the things he told us:

The baby still has a hole in his heart (VSD).  While this can sometimes close on its own, he said the hole is a "little bigger" and may require surgery, probably when he's around 5-6 months old.  His heart is on the left side of his chest, but it's positioned (twisted?) toward the center.  What this means is that they just need to keep an eye on the anatomy of his heart to make sure that everything is there and where it should be.  As for his arteries, I'm not sure if I misunderstood him last time or what, but he said that his concern with Logan's arteries is that they can't get a good picture of the blood flow out of his heart (leading to his lungs/brain).  This doesn't necessarily mean that it isn't flowing to those places, it just means they haven't been able to see the flow clearly.  We're praying that it is flowing!  Finally, the last time I was there, he said that Logan's kidneys were a slight concern because when he urinated, a small amount of the urine went back into his kidneys.  However, today he said that it seems to be correcting itself, so that's a big "Praise God" :). 

The amnio was honestly not very bad.  I just psyched myself out a lot beforehand because of the 5" needle and because Logan is a very active baby and I didn't want him to get poked.  The nurse and the doctor both reassured me that everything would be ok and when I laid down for the 'procedure', I was at peace (which I attribute to all of your prayers!).  They told me everything that they were doing:  swabbing my stomach with iodine, putting gel on my stomach to monitor the needle via ultrasound, and then inserting the needle.  I felt a poke and then it was ok.  I did feel the needle going in part of the way, but I tried to ignore it :).  Once in, we could see the needle on the ultrasound, right next to Logan's hand.  I was praying that he wouldn't move!!!  The doctor (probably trying to ease my fears) said "oh, sometimes the baby will grab the needle"... gah!!!  I prayed even more after he said that :).  Anyway, Logan was a good little boy and after about a minute of collecting fluid, the doctor told me "take a deep breath" and he pulled the needle out, which bothered me more than inserting it.  I could feel it come out the entire way and it felt like it was never going to end.  Bleh. 

The fluid is being sent to Emory and we should get the results back on 3 of the major chromosomal defects (10,18, & 23) on Thursday.  The other defects will take longer to test and we should hopefully hear back on them by the end of next week.  Depending on the results, we will either go back in about 2 weeks (if it's positive for a defect) or 4 weeks (if it's negative for defects).  We're praying that he doesn't have any chromosomal defects, which would mean they will have us come back to see a fetal cardiologist and they can just focus on the heart and how to proceed from there.

I did ask if having a natural vaginal delivery is still a possibility and the doctor was very encouraging.  He said that the majority of times that's the better option and healthier for the baby.  He said that I should be able to carry Logan full-term and have a vaginal delivery - the hospital may just need to have additional resources available for Logan as soon as he's "out".

I think I covered pretty much everything.  We did get another profile picture of Logan and he's just adorable :).  He already has his mommy tied around his finger ;).  We also got a couple pictures of his 'boy stuff' and we were able to see him kicking his cute little legs.  It's always a blessing to see our baby boy... I'm getting more and more excited about meeting him!

Oh, a couple of things I forgot.  Logan now weighs 1 lb 8 oz, which is right on track.  He's measuring at 24 weeks 2 days and according to my due date, I'm 24 weeks 4 days.  The doctor said that Logan looks great as far as his growth and development.  He has a strong heartbeat and his heart is pumping well, so we're thankful for a strong baby :).  We're praying for continued improvement and believing that his chromosomes are normal.

Thank you again for your prayers... we appreciate them more than we can ever say.  I will try to keep you updated with the results that we receive.