It's a ...
With both Jack and Emmie, I was so hot to trot to find out the gender that I scheduled ultrasounds at 15 and 16 weeks, respectively. And both times we were rewarded with the money shot, allowing us to go home and start buying shit. Correction: allowing us to go home, call the grandparents and have THEM start buying shit.
But this time I decided not to find out the sex of the baby. Me, the ultimate planner and plotter and need-to-knower chose to have it be a surprise in the delivery room. And I stuck to it, despite protestations from my better half. Josh kept saying he was going to find out, whether I did or not. I kept saying there was no way he could keep a secret like that. He scoffed.
As we left for the appointment, I told him I didn't want a scene in front of the tech and that we were most definitely not finding out. He said he was. We went into the room and things got underway and the tech asked if we were finding out and I said no.
As we were leaving, Mr. Smirky McSmirkyson shot me a look and I asked him what was so amusing. He cocked an eyebrow.
"I know what it is," he said smugly.
"No you don't," I sighed.
"Yes I do. I have been reading up on how to read ultrasounds and I know what I saw," he said.
Considering the tech never took the angle I know she had to take to get the shot between the legs, I am confident he has no idea what in the hell he is yammering about. And even if he did see the shot, there is no way with a moving picture and no knowledge of what she was even scanning that he could have seen anything remotely resembling reproductive organs. Even I, who have seen many a "hamburger" and "turtle" on an ultrasound screen, couldn't decipher them without the assistance of the tech showing me exactly where to look.
Josh can think he knows the sex all he wants. I am sure he doesn't actually know, and in the end, he has a 50 percent chance of being right or wrong. But if you want his take on the whole thing, by all means, head on over to his blog.
The ultrasound itself went well. WeeBey was kicking and stretching and waving, but of course I can't feel most of the antics because I have an anterior placenta, which is a fancy way of saying it's like the baby is kicking as hard as it can into a pillow. I don't feel a whole lot yet, just a few kicks here and there towards the sides of my belly.
We also had a gander at the ole' cervix and it was looking long and strong. I was measuring 1.6 cm above the stitch with no funneling and 1.8 below the stitch, for a grand total of 3.4 cm. Ta-da! Just inside the low end of normal and definitely a great measurement for my shitass incompetent cervix.
The tech spent a great deal of time looking around at the baby, 45 minutes to be exact. Then she had the doctor come in and he wanted to take a look as well. Of course there was some mixup and my MFM was supposed to be in today but he had a conflict so I had to see someone else. And he was great; awesome in fact.
As he moved the wand over the baby's head, he said he wanted to let us know about something rather than just put it in the report. He said the baby has a small cyst in it's head called a choroid plexus cyst. Paraphrasing what the doctor told us (via a Google search), the choroid plexus is an area of the brain that is not involved thinking or personality. Rather, the choroid plexus makes a fluid that protects and nourishes the brain and spinal cord. When a fluid-filled space is seen in the choroid plexus during an ultrasound, it is called a choroid plexus cyst (CPC). Between 1 and 3 percent of all fetuses will manifest a CPC at 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Sometimes, these cysts can be an indicator of Trisomy 18, a genetic disorder. But in the absence of other markers on ultrasound, these CPCs are not a big deal and will go away on their own by the end of the second trimester.
The doctor said he saw evidence that WeeBey's cyst is breaking up already and the baby had no other indicators of Trisomy 18 such as a heart defect, clenched fists or foot abnormalities. Coupled with the fact my blood test results showed the baby has a 1-in-10,000 chance of having Trisomy 18, the doctor said he's sure the cyst will go away on its own in a few weeks. He said I should come back in six weeks for another ultrasound to confirm that, but not to worry because its not a huge deal.
And I actually am not worried. All other signs point to everything being normal. And in my book, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
But again, my big ultrasound is filled with drama and intrigue. I swear, I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.
But this time I decided not to find out the sex of the baby. Me, the ultimate planner and plotter and need-to-knower chose to have it be a surprise in the delivery room. And I stuck to it, despite protestations from my better half. Josh kept saying he was going to find out, whether I did or not. I kept saying there was no way he could keep a secret like that. He scoffed.
As we left for the appointment, I told him I didn't want a scene in front of the tech and that we were most definitely not finding out. He said he was. We went into the room and things got underway and the tech asked if we were finding out and I said no.
As we were leaving, Mr. Smirky McSmirkyson shot me a look and I asked him what was so amusing. He cocked an eyebrow.
"I know what it is," he said smugly.
"No you don't," I sighed.
"Yes I do. I have been reading up on how to read ultrasounds and I know what I saw," he said.
Considering the tech never took the angle I know she had to take to get the shot between the legs, I am confident he has no idea what in the hell he is yammering about. And even if he did see the shot, there is no way with a moving picture and no knowledge of what she was even scanning that he could have seen anything remotely resembling reproductive organs. Even I, who have seen many a "hamburger" and "turtle" on an ultrasound screen, couldn't decipher them without the assistance of the tech showing me exactly where to look.
Josh can think he knows the sex all he wants. I am sure he doesn't actually know, and in the end, he has a 50 percent chance of being right or wrong. But if you want his take on the whole thing, by all means, head on over to his blog.
The ultrasound itself went well. WeeBey was kicking and stretching and waving, but of course I can't feel most of the antics because I have an anterior placenta, which is a fancy way of saying it's like the baby is kicking as hard as it can into a pillow. I don't feel a whole lot yet, just a few kicks here and there towards the sides of my belly.
We also had a gander at the ole' cervix and it was looking long and strong. I was measuring 1.6 cm above the stitch with no funneling and 1.8 below the stitch, for a grand total of 3.4 cm. Ta-da! Just inside the low end of normal and definitely a great measurement for my shitass incompetent cervix.
The tech spent a great deal of time looking around at the baby, 45 minutes to be exact. Then she had the doctor come in and he wanted to take a look as well. Of course there was some mixup and my MFM was supposed to be in today but he had a conflict so I had to see someone else. And he was great; awesome in fact.
As he moved the wand over the baby's head, he said he wanted to let us know about something rather than just put it in the report. He said the baby has a small cyst in it's head called a choroid plexus cyst. Paraphrasing what the doctor told us (via a Google search), the choroid plexus is an area of the brain that is not involved thinking or personality. Rather, the choroid plexus makes a fluid that protects and nourishes the brain and spinal cord. When a fluid-filled space is seen in the choroid plexus during an ultrasound, it is called a choroid plexus cyst (CPC). Between 1 and 3 percent of all fetuses will manifest a CPC at 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Sometimes, these cysts can be an indicator of Trisomy 18, a genetic disorder. But in the absence of other markers on ultrasound, these CPCs are not a big deal and will go away on their own by the end of the second trimester.
The doctor said he saw evidence that WeeBey's cyst is breaking up already and the baby had no other indicators of Trisomy 18 such as a heart defect, clenched fists or foot abnormalities. Coupled with the fact my blood test results showed the baby has a 1-in-10,000 chance of having Trisomy 18, the doctor said he's sure the cyst will go away on its own in a few weeks. He said I should come back in six weeks for another ultrasound to confirm that, but not to worry because its not a huge deal.
And I actually am not worried. All other signs point to everything being normal. And in my book, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...
But again, my big ultrasound is filled with drama and intrigue. I swear, I couldn't make this shit up if I tried.
Labels: Incompetent Cervix, Pregnancy
posted by Amy at
9:32 PM
4 Comments:
Congratulations on a great ultrasound, Amy!!! :) I am so happy for you, and so glad for you that you stuck your guns on the gender issue...I just know you'll be so happy to have had this experience! :)
James has bilateral choroid plexus cysts, AND a couple other soft markers (short femurs and something else I can't remember) and he, obviously, is just fine. :) So you are absolutely right not to worry! So glad we get to follow your journey here!
you are soo funny, I look forward to reading your posts. Anyhoo, Jordyn had a choriod plexus cyst, and as the Dr mentioned, it was nothing. Like you, everything else about her was normal so I was the least bit worried.
This post has been removed by the author.
Jon was SURE Nora was a boy. He was so positive he saw boy parts in our black-and-white grainy memento ultrasound picture that he mocked me for not agreeing. I insisted it was "too big" to be a boy part, that it probably was part of a leg bone. He scoffed and acted all insulted. Well, you know who won that guessing game. :)
I'm glad to hear everything is looking good and that you got such a great description of the cyst from the doc.
(that was me who deleted a post -- couldn't deal with my typos from the first time 'round)
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home