Week 20 -- What a Rollercoaster

Well, these last eight days have been a whirlwind of emotion. Last Monday, we were elated to learn that Bagel was more like a bagel dog (yes, I went there). Then, on Friday, we had quite a scare. I went in for the follow up to my anatomy scan because on Monday, Bagel wasn't cooperating and they couldn't get a good view of one side of the heart.

The heart was absolutely perfect. But when the radiologist came in, he started looking at the brain very intently. He was measuring things and saying absolutely nothing. It was terrifying. He then told me that he found something that was a "minor marker" for certain genetic problems. I basically had to drag out of him what that all meant, and some of the information he gave me was wrong. With what little information I dragged out of the radiologist, and with the use of google later, I was able to figure out that the Bagel has some tiny cysts in the area of the brain that produces cerebrospinal fluid. In and of themselves, this means nothing. They are not harmful, they almost always go away, and there is even the occasional adult walking around with them with no ill effects. However, they have also been corrolated with certain genetic defects, most often Trisomy 18. I won't go into how horrible this is or all the statistics. Needless to say, we spent the last three days worrying more than we should and longing for the days of blissful ignorance.

Today, I finally spoke with my ob/gyn and she told me that there is absolutely nothing to worry about, especially given my age and how small they are. These cysts are fairly common, and usually go away. We'll do a follow up ultrasound later in the pregnancy to monitor the situation. But I've decided to put this all out of my mind and focus on our perfectly healthy little guy.

In the midst of all those ups and downs, yesterday, Rob felt Bagel kick for the first time! It was amazing. We were lying in bed watching a movie, and I said he was kicking and Rob said, "I want to feel" and put his hand on my belly and there was this tiny little *thump*! I can't wait until the next one.

And with all that, let's celebrate the fact that I'm halfway to baby! This week, Bagel is the size of a small cantaloupe. His digestive system is now secreting meconium, a tarry black substance which one of the grandmas will get to see when they change the first diaper (I call not it).