Another Ultrasound

Dearest Joshua David~

Hello precious!  Today is your Grandpa Jim's birthday!  Do you want to know how old he is?  Well, I'll just let you figure that out (though I'll give you a hint .... he was born in 1954).  ;-)  We got to see him today .... but I'll get to that later.

First off, we got to see our deer family again this morning!  We saw the mommy deer and her two babies in the backyard eating some leaves in the woods.  I don't know where they'll go when it starts to get cold out.  Maybe we'll have to let them inside.  ;-)

Oh, before I forget again, I didn't tell you that yesterday you tried apricots for the first time.  I gave you an apricot with mixed fruit blend and you ate about half the container.  Then, I gave you some cereal, which you just played with and threw on the floor.  :-P  I gave you a rice rusk (banana flavor) which looks like a cracker.  It easily dissolves in your mouth, and you ate about half of one.  We need to keep practicing with the cereal though .... that will also help your fine motor skills.  Afterward, you had the hiccups.  :-)

So, after lunch, we went over to Grandpa Jim's office to see him for his birthday.  We got there around 12:30pm and stayed for about an hour.  He held you and your Great-Grandparents called while we were there.  We also walked around the shopping center and to the Post Office .... Grandpa Jim held you the whole time.  

Once we left, we headed over to Target to get a cookie cake for my coworkers.  I told them I would bring one in to celebrate Peanut, but all the ones they had were decorated like pumpkins!  Ugh!  So, we headed over to the mall to order one from the big cookie store.  It was around 2pm when we got there, and I still hadn't had lunch yet, so once we placed our order, you and I walked over to the food court so I could grab a sandwich.  

I never noticed that I had missed a phone call from my doctor's office.  Once I called them back, the nurse explained to me that the OB doctors wanted me to go for another ultrasound for Peanut over at Wake Med Hospital (the Maternal Fetal Medicine Department).  This ultrasound would be more detailed just to confirm that Peanut is growing ok.  I think I forgot to tell you, but yesterday the technician noticed a two vessel cord instead of three.  Usually, an umbilical cord has 2 arteries and 1 vein (hence three vessels).  I have one artery and one vein with Peanut (hence two vessels).  There's nothing particularly wrong with that (they've seen it before), but they wanted to confirm measurements that Peanut's getting enough blood and oxygen to grow properly.  Sometimes, two vessel cord babies are born early .... so, with our history, they want to keep a special watch on me.  

I called the hospital clinic and they had an appointment today at 3:15pm (at this point it was 2:30pm), so you and I hopped back in the car and went straight to Wake Med (I don't know how many times you and I have been to Wake Med Hospital this past year!).  We didn't even pick up the cookie cake!

I had the second ultrasound, though this time you were the only one with me since daddy, Gigi, and Mimi were working and it was so last minute.  This technician took a lot of scans and the doctor said that he found nothing wrong with Peanut's growth, kidneys, or heart.  Thank God!  I was so thankful to hear that (as was daddy once I called him).  He recommended a follow up ultrasound at around 30 weeks gestation (we're slightly over 17 weeks now) to continue to check her growth (my doctor also recommends that).  So, that was a relief to hear that so far, so good .... but daddy and I continue to pray for Peanut and you everyday.

After we left, we went straight home since we had been out all day and were tired.  You never took a nap and were getting cranky.  We ended up getting home around 4:30pm, and we both took a little nap until daddy got home.  

While we ate dinner together, we saw the mommy deer again in the backyard!  We ended up making a quick trip to the grocery store after dinner, and I finally got a cookie cake for my coworkers for tomorrow!  It says "It's A Girl!" so I know they'll be excited.  

Since you've figured out how to pull up onto your knees in the crib, daddy lowered the mattress 6 inches this evening.  Let's see how long it takes you to get out now.  :-P

Tomorrow, you'll be with Penny again while I'm at work.  Be good and we can play together tomorrow evening.  :-)

Sleep tight!

I love you!  :-)

~Mommy