IT'S A BOY!!!

Great profile shot of the little guy!


Left arm, as viewed from behind


The money shot! This view is from looking up at his bottom... You can see his two legs and a little something extra in between-- definitely a boy!

What an exciting day!!!! At around 9am, we had an appointment with the genetic counselor, a really nice lady who explained everything to us. It was really reassuring to me, because she pretty much said ALL of the same things I had outlined in my post below about why I should get the amnio-- including the fact that the "1 in 200" statistic was totally out of date. She said that at this particular clinic, the odds are more like 1 in 1,000. Anyway, I decided to have the procedure done. After we met with the counselor, we had to sit in the waiting room for a while before our ultrasound appointment. I chugged 16 ounces of water, thinking my appointment would be in about 10 minutes (my scheduled time). I didn't get called in until 45 minutes after my scheduled appointment time, and I thought I was going to DIE! During the wait, I went to the bathroom twice (trying to just go a little each time), and then forcing myself to drink more water. They wanted me to have a full bladder for the ultrasound, and they definitely got it! The ultrasound tech even stopped halfway through and told me I should go (I guess my bladder was REALLY full). After that, the experience was much more pleasant. She said that the baby looks perfectly normal, with none of the soft markers that might indicate Down Syndrome. She also said he weighs about 9 ounces right now. The whole time, he was wiggling around and putting on a little show for us. It was AWESOME! (OH, and they even recorded the entire ultrasound on a videotape for us! IT cost $5-- I think it's worth it!)

After the ultrasound, the doctor and another ultrasound tech came in to do the amnio. It took all of two minutes. First, they swabbed that brown medical disinfectant all over my belly. Then, the tech used the ultrasound to find a nice pocket of fluid, away from the baby and the placenta. Then the doctor inserted a needle (not as big as I thought!) into the pocket, and proceded to draw out about 3 tablespoons of amniotic fluid. It was so weird to see the needle on the ultrasound screen! At one point, the baby must have bumped it, because he started moving around like crazy (he has reflexes, yay!). Anyway, they got the fluid, pulled the needle out, cleaned up my belly as best they could (it's still stained slightly yellow in spots), and stuck a band-aid on the puncture spot. Now I just have to take it easy for the rest of the afternoon, which is no problem at all! I should get the results of the amnio in seven to ten days, but I would be really surprised if it is anything but normal. It will be nice to have the reassurance, though!

So, yes... that was our morning. I'm going to go rest on the couch for a bit, and maybe watch the ultrasound video. We're so excited for our little baby boy! :) :)