Sorry to leave some of you hanging - I've received quite a few emails! The sonogram two weeks ago went well. I'm happy to report the experience was nothing like getting my blood tests done - and from now on any blood work I need I'll just drive to the maternity hospital for, even if it does add 20 minutes each way to the trip. The ultrasound machine was the exact same one used at Georgetown, from what I could tell, and the tech who took my blood to complement the ultrasound results used the purel-equivalent before touching me without being prompted. Both aspects much to my relief!
As for the results themselves, for all intents and purposes they came back negative for any birth defects. Since I'm under 35 and in a low-risk category based on my past pregnancy, we opted to only do a nuchal scan (sonogram + blood test) which tells the percentage chance of various defects - it does not give a definitive yes or no. However, as with William (when he used to be Ralph), the results said that the chance of this baby having any defects that they can test for is something like 1 in 1,000,000,000. Well, maybe not that low, but you get the point. There definitely wasn't any need for further tests, given the risks associated with amniocentesis and the like. Good news!
Many have also been asking if we'll find out the sex of the baby. We had been thinking maybe this time around we might, but since it now looks like we'll be staying in India for delivery, we won't be. Why? Because it's against the law here. We had to sign a consent form saying we wouldn't ask the doctor and that we understood that if we did, it was an offense punishable by law. And that the doctor can also be prosecuted for telling us. Female feticide / infanticide is such a big problem here, the government takes this very seriously. So, Floyd's gender will remain a surprise!
We took William to see the sonogram. He thought it was so funny to see the "baby jumping" on the screen. Then he started jumping on the examining table, too. And for the next few days, he would point at my tummy and say "baby jumping!". I think he may have forgotten now, but we'll have to make sure to take him to any appointments that will involve a sonogram so he gets used to the idea of a new baby coming. We also took Sarwary since she had never seen an ultrasound - she was amazed that you could already see all the fingers and toes and eyes and everything even though the baby was only about 1" long. Quite the fun for everyone.
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