Today's Double Ultrasounds

Marcus' Ultrasound

I guess Marcus turning 3 gave him a new level of maturity because he did suprisingly well during this morning's ultrasound.  He fidgeted and squirmed a bit, but it was like he tried to be as macho as he could because he didn't cry or complain until we said "all done".  We were so surprised by this because last year, it was like wrestling a tiger and making him stay still while he screamed and yelled.  What a difference a year makes!  Gosh, I feel like he's gonna grow a mustache soon too.  He's growing up!

Note:  If you ever need to have your child undergo an abdominal ultrasound, here are some tips:

1. After your child takes his shirt off, admire and praise him for his manly musculature.
2. Have your child lay with his dad on the ultrasound bed.  It's a bit uncomfortable for the dad, but he's a big boy and he can endure it.
3. Show your child a DVD from a portable DVD player while being examined.  A soothing movie like Baby Mozart might help.
4. After it's all done, give him a lollipop.  And have a treat ready for his big sister too, because more than likely, she was a good sport.
5. Go to Carl's Jr. afterward and have him stuff his face with mini hash browns because he's probably not had breakfast due to the required fasting.  At this point, he's forgotten all about the ultrasound!

We are super thankful.  We'll hear from our doctor soon about the formal results, but from what the technician heard from the on-staff doctor, everything looks good with his kidneys and liver.  Glad we won't have to think about that for another year!

Mommy's Ultrasound

After Marcus' ultrasound, we went to the perinatologist's office to do mine.  (I joked that Mike and Audrey should get ultrasounds this morning too...just to be unified as a family.)  The doctor said that everything looked great so far.  He looked closely at the heart, the facial characteristics (to rule out a cleft lip/palate and other facial abnormalities), and the brain.  He said that both the cerebellum and the cerebellar vermis were formed and looked good.  Of course, only an accurate fetal MRI could show us if he has the Molar Tooth sign like Marcus does, but we are glad that at least the ultrasound looks good.  We will only know for sure if the baby is "in the clear" after the baby is born and maybe not until a few months after.  But for now, we are thankful for the good news that he looks great for now and especially grateful we got to see him again.

However, my heart broke during the exam.  Our technician told us that our doctor would have to go to the hospital after seeing us because there was an urgent finding during the ultrasound before ours.  This patient was to be admitted immediately and perhaps have an emergency procedure done due to this finding.  Mike and I just looked at each other and sighed, trying to wrap our hearts around what this family was going through.  And here we were, seeing our beautiful boy and hearing the good news that so far, so good.  I couldn't help but pray for God to work wonders in this other family while I was admiring my miracle son.

It's such a mystery how one family can hear the worst of news while the family next door can breathe a sigh of relief.  Praying that if we, too, hear disappointing news about the baby, that we will still be humbly in awe of our glorious Lord who rules over all things with His loving hand.

Here is the latest 3-D picture of the baby.  We think he resembles his big brother a bit, and we are in love.