Happy Days

I am having a healthy baby. I feel the need to repeat that many many times to myself since I still can't believe it. It is truly amazing what the mind can do when you decide on something. Living in denial has been the only way to get through the last 21 weeks. Here's hoping that I can snap out of it before December!

So yesterday was the big Level II ultrasound. I was remarkably calm and I think that's because I had myself convinced that yesterday would be the end of the line. That I would hear bad news, deal with it, and move on just like I did last year. Not once did it occur to me, nor did I allow it to, that I would have good news. It was just too much to hope for.

Yasmin and I arrived and made our way to the antepartum unit. We are way too familiar with that hospital now! Sad that it has almost become a routine to get my paperwork, take it up to the right floor, hand it over to the nurses, and settle into "our" couches to wait to be called. Who wants to make a bet that once I'm in labour I'll automatically head for those couches to wait to be called instead of heading for a room!?!

Anyway, after a very uncomfortable 45 minute wait (did I mention the excessively full bladder) we were called in. Once again I settled in to stare at the ceiling. Damn them for not letting me see the screen while it's going on! I'm not sure how long the ultrasound itself took. I think around 20 minutes, but for all I knew it could have been 2 hours. A few times I had to take calming breaths as I was starting to panic and have problems breathing. It was finally over and the technician smiled at me. That was a very good sign. She told me that Dr M would be in to see me shortly but that everything looked good to her. Sad to say, but at that point, I didn't believe her. Denial is really really powerful! She showed me the screen and pointed a few things out to me. At that point I was still in shock and just kind of nodded dumbly. She printed off a couple of pictures for me and I'll be sure to post one soon!

Dr M came in and said something to the effect of how are you doing, I hear everything looks good. I know I mumbled some response about being scared shitless and more than a little bit in shock. Dr M went through the pictures with me and I got to see everything I had been wondering about. Heart, kidneys, and bladder all looked perfect. The brain has formed nicely and the head was perfectly shaped. She showed me the face and pointed out the lips (no cleft lip or palette), the nose (a beautiful nasal bone), and the eyes. The orbits were the proper distance apart and looked great! Baby already weighs 1 lb! Things sunk in enough for me to ask what happenes next. After all, I'm now in a new phase. I've never been this pregnant before. So here's the rundown..

I'm currently 21 weeks pregnant. I'll have a prenatal appointment around 24 weeks. I will have another prenatal appointment around 28 weeks. Also at the 28 week appointment they will do the glucose test to check for gestational diabetes. After 28 weeks I start going for prenatal appointments every 2 weeks until 36 weeks at which point I'll start going every week. I'll also have another ultrasound done around the 30-32 week mark to check baby's position and growth. So very surreal to even be typing this!

I've survived this entire pregnancy by not looking at the finish line. I've lived in 2-3 week increments since April. I think for right now I need to keep doing that. So what happens 2-3 weeks from now? Probably something I am looking forward to more than anything else this summer. The best weekend ever! On Friday, August 27th, my best friend of 11 years (Yasmin of course) is getting married! It will be a small private ceremony on a beach at a lake. I am beyond excited! And that's just the start of the weekend! On the Saturday morning I fly to Edmonton to see my sister. Not just that though, but we are also going to my first ever live Saskatchewan Roughrider football game! While not a huge fan of football, the fans are what make these games so exciting. Saskatchewan has, without a doubt, the best fans in Canada. I'm so excited about being a part of the excitement! On top of all that, I have another weekend to spend with my sister after our last one was cut so horribly short. I know this visit will be alot better!

Of course, the ultrasound wasn't enough excitement for yesterday. I also had Jake's follow-up visit with the vet. They were so excited to see him walking around and everyone said he is doing much better than they even thought possible! The vet wasn't at all concerned about his walking. She thinks that is only going to continue to improve. Even if it doesn't improve dramatically from this point forward, he can get around on his own and has bladder control. More than enough for a decent quality of life at his age! (11 last April) He has one bruise on his belly that I need to watch carefully. They put him on 10 more days of antibiotics to see if that will take care of it. As long as that bruise clears up he should be good to go and she doesn't need to see him again!

I brought both Shai and Jake home with me last night and they both seemed happy to be there. We all fell asleep at 10pm and I don't think any of us moved until 6 am when my alarm went off. I already can't wait to get home and see how Jake is doing today.

One step at a time for all of us. Eventually we'll get there!