Meet Baby!

So here's my first official baby bump shot.  I think I'm a little behind on this, as I'm already 18 weeks along!  This pregnancy is flying by!  

We had our ultrasound today, and I had been hoping that we would for once (out of 4 pregnancies) be given an A-OK checkup.  Unfortunately that was not the case.  I'm trying to focus on the positive that over all the baby looked strong and healthy, and this same type of thing has happened 3 times before with the outcome being a healthy baby, but it's just not the thing you want to hear.

Baby waves "Hi"

Here's a 3-D shot of the back of baby's head.  The left arm is bent with the hand up by the face.  This little baby did not want to show their face, so we will certainly be surprised as to what they look like.  We kept the gender hidden, and so that will be a surprise as well.

During the ultrasound, I could tell there was something "wrong" with the baby, but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.  It turns out the baby has two cysts on their brain, and this is a marker for Trisomy-18.  Luckily, there were no other markers seen, so we are praying for a healthy baby and this was just one of those abnormalities that I tend to have with my babies during pregnancy.

There is no follow up to this, because the cysts will resolve on their own, and that does not change my risk for Trisomy-18.  When the doctor came in and talked to me about the findings and what this all meant, I broke down.  I was really not this upset about the ultrasound, but with everything that has happened this week, and with the news about TJ, it was all too much for me to take.  I was offered an amniocentesis, but it won't change anything for me, and there are risks, so we passed on that.

Please keep baby in your prayers that they will be healthy and wait until 37 weeks to be born.  That is my prayer.  Oh, and a side note.....my nausea level is highly correlated to my stress level.

Less stress for mommy = happy baby!