15 weeks and a little bit

Yesterday I went for my last appointment before starting my treatment at the beginning of January. I came in with one of those "bad feelings" we paranoid mommies get, and it didn't help that the resident took 15 minutes trying to find the heart beat (to no avail). They ended up hauling in the ultrasound machine to take a look and make sure all was well. The little monster is doing great, he was bouncing all over the place hiding from the poor resident. He's getting so big and has a big fat belly already 8-) So cute... I'm starting to be able to feel him move, and Nolan was even able to feel a little kick last night. 

The whole appointment was a little weird. At one point I believe there was my doctor, a resident, and three nurses crammed into the little exam room. Everyone seemed just as on edge about beginning treatment as I am, which was oddly comforting. They are all working really hard to make sure everything is perfectly coordinated and will go smoothly, which I am grateful for. We're starting to get into the nitty gritty parts of NAIT, and even though my doctor has treated many patients with this disorder, it's still a little bit like driving a car blind. So needless to say I think there is a little anxiety across the board. We're going at this pretty aggressively , starting treatment a month earlier than most and doubling the amount of IVIG that a usual NAIT patient gets. I will have the anatomy scan around 18 weeks (you know, the one that reveals the big mystery sex), and then another one every four weeks after that to check for bleeds. I feel very confident that we are doing just about all that can be done at this point, with the exception of adding prednisone (a nasty steroid with even nastier side effects) which we plan on holding off on for as long as we can.

Anyway, I will post belly shots soon (I keep getting demands for them). But until then, Merry Christmas everyone!!! Thanks for all of your support 8-)

It's a boy! (You're shocked, aren't you?)

Yesterday I went to yet another ultrasound (this baby is going to come out striking a model pose, I swear)... this time for what is called the Nuchal Screening. They measure the pocket of fluid at the base of the babies neck (among other things) which helps tell them the likelihood of the occurrence of Downsydrome and Trisomy 18. Everything looks great! Brain looks normal (BIG sigh of relief), and our risks of the baby having any of the syndromes they tested for was something like 1 in a bazillion. I asked if they were able to tell the sex yet (I'm only 13+ weeks, so it's still a bit early, but the parts are there, just hard to see) so they poked around and said "I'm almost positive that's a boy!" 

Really, at this point why do we even bother with ultrasounds in our family? What is this, boy number 20 in a row, in the last 17 years? Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I think it's something close to that. It's just laughable now... we were holding out hope for a girl (not sure why we even bother), but of course we are thrilled for another boy. They're so much fun!!! I'm already feeling severely outnumbered, but that's okay, there are worse things 8-)

I suppose there is always a chance they could be wrong, we'll find out at the next ultrasound (around 20 weeks I think...), but I highly doubt it!
~Tracy