Baby Pictures!

Whew! I sure am glad to be done with that Mexico blog. I mean, I enjoyed sharing the photos with everyone, and the stories, but I did feel sort of confined when it came to actually being thought-provoking with the blog. I mean, it's hardly a "brain fart" when I'm basically just transferring a journal from one format to another. (BTW - does that word have two r's in a row like that?) Take, for instance, the State of the Union address tonight. That's a perfectly legitimate thing to be blogging about, especially since...

Huh? What's that, you say? Oh, you're RIGHT! I titled this thing Baby Pictures, didn't I?? Well, bust my buttons! You probably want to SEE the little alien, dontcha? Fine, then:

Great lookin' kid, eh? Kinda how I look after I've opened that second bottle of wine (hey, I AM drinking for TWO now!). Oh, no, wait...this isn't how I LOOK after that second bottle...it's how I SEE. Yeah, that's it. Anyway, you parents out there surely recognize the 15-week old staring out at you. For those of you who HAVEN'T been through this yet, allow me to elaborate with some visual aids:

This is a sideways view, as if the babe is about 1/4 of the way through a sommersault. Which, judging by the uterine aerobics the little peanut was engaging in, could very well be the case. As you can well see, there ain't MUCH to see at this level, although I do count 1, 2, 3, 4, yes, FIVE little fingertips there, so at lease we're not talking about a seal-baby, with flippers instead of arms. All joking aside, it was pretty overwhelming to see the bugger actually LOOKING more or less like a tiny human; the scale was off, inasmuch as the screen magnified by about double the actual size of the fingerling. (You parents - yes, YOU! - who called here tonight wondering if it was a boy or a girl: gimme a break! Wait a month 'til there's a little more to see, willya?) S/he was just bouncing & rolling around, arms all akimbo and just generally being quite rowdy. Could be because, oh, I dunno, the uterus was being BLASTED WITH SOUND WAVES! But, nah, I think it's just what babies do at this stage. I couldn't take my eyes off the screen, though: the little heart was beating, and the technician even told us at one point that the babe was opening & closing its mouth. Pretty awesome. Another few weeks, give or take, and Tess will be able to feel the movement. Sweet.

If I may go on about my lovah's plumbing: her cervix was a VERY healthy length, something that is a concern with us, which is why we're getting an ultrasound at 15 weeks anyway. But, a small blemish did occur on our otherwise keen appointment: it seems Tess picked up a very early diagnosis for placental previa. Basically, the placenta can implant anywhere in the uterus, and previa means that the blob o'baby food has implanted over the cervical opening. Commonly this means that a vaginal delivery is impossible, a scenario that would only FIGURE inasmuch as a C-section is a phobia for both Tess and me. Worst case scenarios involve bleeding and early contractions, a condition that is serious and involves hospitalized bed rest. However, a site we both looked at mentions the following: "Diagnosing a previa is usually made when there is painless bleeding during the third trimester." Hmmm...since we're only at the beginning of the SECOND trimester, I can see why our Dr. was insisting we not panic, that it's very early to be worrying about this. The article continues "...second trimester ultrasounds...will show that there are many more previas diagnosed at this stage. Typically at 16 weeks the placenta takes up 25-50% of the surface area. Also, the third trimester brings a growth of this lower uterine segment, that out flanks the growth of the placenta. For these reasons, while 5% of pregnancies are diagnosed with complete previa in second trimester ultrasounds...90% of them (are) resolved by term." The uterus is kind of like a balloon, and as it gets bigger the placenta, which is implanted in the wall, moves as the organ expands...so that, something covering the "hole" of the "balloon" today will probably move out of the way as the "balloon" gets bigger. That's better...but, you know, we want everything to be just PERFECT, and of course we're both prone to be worriers, so there was some tempering of good spirits today.

Anyway...I know that our eye candy is still a little on the "rough" side, but give us some time. Let the little nugget cook some more, and we'll be back in a few weeks with better photos.