The 20 week scan

Last Wednesday, I had the 20 week ultrasound.
I was very excited to see how my precious baby was progressing but I was insanely anxious.

Why?

Well, early on in our pregnancy, we were given the option to do prenatal testing. For my peeps with no kids and don't what that is, it's basically test  that "tests" for markers such as down syndrome, spinal biffida (sp?), cleft palate, brain abnormalities, etc. They will run another blood test at another point in the pregnancy (before 20 weeks), but that in no way guarantees something is wrong with your baby, only gives an indication that it could be there. The only way to be sure is amniocentesis, which carries a risk of miscarriage.

Between my sister and I, we had a slew of friends who took this test, and each was told something was very wrong. It caused a lot of stress and in the end, their babies were healthy. I personally can't handle that type of stress, plus it wouldn't change anything about my pregnancy. We decided against it. However, there were some doubts in the back of my mind that I just wanted to be sure my baby was fine. Now let me preface, even if later there was a diagnosis of some sort, it wouldn't change a thing. My baby would be amazing and perfect, regardless of any diagnosis. However, every parent simply want their baby to be okay. I would love to say I wasn't worried about it, but I was. Thankfully, I had a lot of people on my side praying and lifting me up. Thanks to that, I felt more peace, but I was so anxious for January 15th to get here.

So,  the big day came! I drank my 32 oz. of water, and picked up an orange juice. I wanted Muggle to not be a sleepy baby, and I heard OJ peps them up! Even though we weren't finding out that day, I wanted Muggle to cooperate so the tech could see their bits, lol!
 I got checked in and was definitely feeling uncomfortable, but nonetheless excited. I was so thankful I didn't have to wait long (Kaiser is notorious for running behind in this department) and a lovely lady Roxanne got the process started.

I wish I could have taken pics of the process but Kaiser is pretty strict. So sadly, no fun pics to document. Shannon wasn't allowed in for the first 20-30 minutes, as this was the point where they were taking the "big ticket" pictures of baby's anatomy. I couldn't even see! As she was taking her pictures, she commented "Wow, your baby is awfully wiggly". She was digging into my belly (in a safe manner) because my child decided to not be still. I realized the OJ was a bad idea, despite I didn't even drink half the bottle. She would ask me "whoa, did you feel that?" Apparently Muggle was auditioning for Cirque du Solei! What was weird was I wasn't feeling anything! Thankfully baby cooperated enough to let her get the important anatomy shots, phew!!! After what should have only taken 20 minutes (it took over 30) she let me pee and then Shannon came in.

At this point, she turned the screen towards us and showed us more profile shots of Muggle. I cried because I couldn't believe how big and beautiful our precious baby looked! Muggle has quite the personality though! At one point, baby stuck their tongue out at us. Oh boy...

I left feeling really good and excited. Now all I had to do was wait for Friday for my doctor's appointment to go over everything. People were very surprised I didn't know anything right then. The way Kaiser operates is that the tech ONLY takes the shots. It is then processed by a radiologist, who then sends the results to my doc. It makes sense, but the wait sucks!

Friday finally did come and after school I zipped to my appointment. I had to wait an hour (agony!) because my doc was pulled in to a procedure. Once she came in, we went over the usual stuff and then she delivered the sweetest news: "your baby's scans came back completely normal. The radiologist didn't find any red flag indicators and baby is progressing beautifully." THANK YOU JESUS!!! I was very happy and relieved Muggle was doing just fine!

I am realizing more and more that worrying doesn't do a single dang thing and I need to let go and give it to God. I am just feeling so thankful  my baby is doing well!!

Here are some latest pics of my little love. I hate that my maiden name shows up rather than Potter. Oh well I guess:

Muggle smiling!

That precious profile! Ahh I can't hardly stand it! So cute!

Another profile  :)