Update on Baby

I almost envy the days of 40 years ago when pregnant women didn’t have ultrasounds and literally had no information about the baby until the baby popped out.  That was the case when my mom had us kids.  She knew nothing and thus really had nothing to worry about.  Now we know everything.  We know too much.  So, today I went to my first prenatal appointment with my OB-GYN.  We talked about the prenatal screening (maternal blood draw) that I was intending to do to check for chromosomal abnormalities and gender.  After the appointment, they were set to draw my blood to send it to the lab for the screening.  But, the OB-GYN was unable to detect the baby’s heartbeat with the Doppler.  She tried and she tried and she tried and she tried.  She finally asked me, “Have you been bleeding?”  I knew instantly that she suspected miscarriage.  She suggested I distract myself in the lobby until she could get me in for an ultrasound.  After more than an hour wait, I got in for an ultrasound.  Immediately, I saw baby, doing some amazing kung fu moves.  The baby was so active that his/her heartbeat was difficult to detect.  On top of that, the placenta is at the top of my uterus, acting as a sound buffer.  So, all is well, especially since I managed to not die of a heartattack during that hour long wait.  7-10 days until we’ll know a lot more about baby, including gender.