Houston, We Have A....

Boy! Absolutely, definitely, no doubt about it, would've been able to figure it out ourselves without the help of the tech, boy! The weird thing is, I kinda thought I wanted a girl, and if I would have had to guess based on how I was carrying and on pregnancy similiarities with Addy and Eli, I would have guessed girl. Yet I felt completely unsurprised and totally thrilled when she told us it was a boy, so there you go. It kind of felt like the same reaction I had when Addy came out and was a girl, after nine months of not knowing. I kept saying, "I KNEW you were a girl!" Even though I hadn't KNOWN, of course. But it felt right. And it feels right that this one is a boy.

The ultrasound was not completely a pleasure, though, unfortunately. The tech didn't say anything to us about a problem, but once I got back to the exam room to talk to the doctor, it turned out there was some issues with the placenta. There is a large patch with three dark spots, and basically they're either bleeds or blood clots. Blood clots definitely being the worst scenario, obviously. Don't even google "blood clots in placenta." Not reassuring. There's very little hard medical information, just a whole lot of scary stories about babies dying or having to be born very prematurely because their placentas stop functioning.

So. My doctor wants me to stop taking the baby aspirin for two weeks and then do a follow up ultrasound, to see if that seems to shrink the spots, in which case she'd assume the problem was bleeding and if it looked the same or worse, we'd assume clots. I, however (and Jim) are not too comfortable with waiting two weeks. I'm especially not comfortable with taking a chance that it's "just bleeding" when if it is in fact clots, stopping the aspirin would be the WORST thing to do.

Anyways, after a frustrating afternoon, we decided to call back and ask for a referral or a second opinion or something. Something more than just wait and see, when every day the clots, if they are clots, could be getting more and more dangerous to the baby's health. So we're seeing a maternal-fetal specialist in Columbus next week, and (I think) getting a Level II ultrasound, which is supposed to be a lot more helpful for diagnosing intra-uterine problems like this. If they are in fact clots, I'll probably being starting the dreaded Lovenox injections after all. And, you know, wishing I'd been doing them from the beginning. Except that then that would've probably caused a miscarriage because of that subchorionic hematoma...

Well. Pregnancy. It sure is a fun, uncomplicated, guilt-free ride! Certainly doesn't bring to mind the expression, "Damned if you do and damned if you don't" or anything!

But anyways, sweet little thumb-sucking boy is safe and sound in there for now, and we are very happy about that part. I took the kids therapy shopping today and we bought him a little car sleeper and a tiny pair of Robeez and that made me feel a wee bit better. I also really want to get him named. I have this irrational idea that once he has a name, he can't possibly leave us. That a name will keep him safe.