Friday, September 30, 2011

Alive and kickin'

Dave and I got to go see Dr. Amerson yesterday (yay!). We were both a little nervous and didn't know what to expect since we both knew we would be able to see the baby on the screen but wasn't sure if what we were about to see would be considered normal.

Ever since our trip to Antigua, I've had this fear that I did something to harm my baby during the trip. I was basking in the sun all day, drenched in my own sweat and taking dips in our hot tub. I don't know why it didn't occur to me that overheating would be bad for the baby, but I realized a little too late.

As a physical therapist, Dave has worked with kids with disabilities, the most common of them being Spina Bfida. His biggest fear is having a child with one of these physical disabilities, since he's been exposed before and understands the difficulty of raising a child with special needs. And also for the child, the frustration and sadness he might feel being bound to a wheel chair or not being able to enjoy running around like the other kids.

But lo and behold. When Dr. Amerson inserted that wand thingy into me and the baby popped up on the screen, the first thing we noticed that how active the baby was. He/she was alive and kicking! WHEW. A sigh of relief. Since Spina Bfida usually means that the baby's legs wouldn't function properly, to see it moving around like that was a sign of hope that the chances would be low. It's surreal to see your 3-inch fetus swimming around in your stomach (though I can't feel it at all). It looked pretty normal on screen. Fingers were properly attached to the hands which seemed to be waving at us excitedly. And it had all the body parts visible at this stage.

Today I go in for the Nuchal Translucency screening to see if the baby is at risk for other chromosomal abnormalities like Down Syndrome. All these tests are pretty frightening but I realize that at this point, there's not much I can do about it. I'm trusting that whatever the case, God will prepare me to handle what may come.

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