Finally got around to writing this post.   Friday Ciriana had an appointment with a specialist that deals with high risk preggo’s.   The appointment consisted of a “stage 2″ ultrasound and a discussion with the doctor.   The ultrasound technician took some measurements of the baby before the doctor came into the room…

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Since I am taking care of Izzy during the day, I took her with me to the appointment along with lots of food and toys.   As the ultrasound tech moved the magic wand around Ciri’s belly I looked down at my lap to hand Izzy another cracker.   While I was trying to hand it to her, I hear the technician and Ciri let out a little gasp.   The technician followed her gasp by saying, “I know what the baby is!”   I looked up at the tech who was staring at Ciri… who was staring at the nice little monitor they provide for parents to look at.   While my head was spinning, playing catch up with what I missed, I hear Ciri say that she knows what it is too.   She reads ultrasounds as well, so it’s hard to keep anything from her.   Finally the tech focuses the wand on my kids brand new genitals… large, brand new genitals!

I felt pretty good hearing the technician and Ciri exclaim about my boys’ thingie.   It’s an ego boost by association.   Then, they had to bring me back down   by explaining that the mother’s hormones will make the genitals larger than normal.   Screw you guys – he’s ALL Daddy!

No no no.   It’s just a fun thing to poke fun at (mua hahaha, pun intended!).   In truth I was stunned to find out our next little offspring was going to be a boy.   We had our suspicions, but it’s such a great feeling to have our thoughts verified.   A boy!   This is truly an exciting time for me.

So, after the fun part we moved on to the discussion with the doctor.   She explained right away that Ciriana DOES NOT have incompetent cervix.   It was a relief to hear our doctor, with such confidence, explain that our next baby would not be born during the second trimester.   Ciriana and Izabella did not exhibit any of the symptoms associated with incompetent cervix, except preterm labor.   This is one of the biggest fears we’ve had with this pregnancy.

So, they’re going to put her on some drug I can’t pronounce, let alone spell.   The drug is actually a natural enzyme/chemical that the body makes during pregnancy.   It was explained to us that if the levels of this chemical drop, labor ensues.   So, it’s very important to maintain a constant level of this chemical in Ciri’s system.

There is also only a fifty fifty chance that this treatment will work, but without it, the chances are that this baby will not last to term anyway.   So, drugs it is.

On our way out of the hospital, they had Ciri go to the labrotaory to get a recheck on her thyroid.   They called her with the results yesterday.   Unlike the last pregnancy, her results show that she still has some thyroid abnormalities and she will need to continue her meds.   This was the only bad news that we got out of the whole deal, but overall we’re still very relieved.   If the thyroid condition is controlled, Ciri and the baby face less of a risk when compared to an incompetent cervix.   Now, I just have to make sure Ciri takes her medication – she was a bit of an airhead during the last pregnancy…

It took me forever to get these scanned in, but now they are ready. This time we saw a technician instead of a doctor. The technician seemed a little detached, but I guess seeing so many pictures of babies all day long gets boring. I can imagine their lack of excitement when they getan ultrasound on their child someday. Either way, I hoped for the same technician that helped us the last time, she was very peppy and excited; maybe she was new… The last ultrasound we had was with a doctor and a technician and a ultrasound saleswoman. Yea, our baby had an ultrasound with a brand new machine! Apparently., this machine has the 3D capability but Spudlina, aka Moco, aka Gremlina, would not stay still, so we went home with arcaic 2D ultrasounds.

This visit, the technician’s machine was also one of the new ones, but she didn’t even offer a 3D image, which kinda sucked; I really want one. We did get to hear her heartbeat though, that was really cool. Anyway, as you can see in the pictures, she is getting really big. I was really excited to see her eyes instead of just hollowish eye sockets. It’s funny seeing her grow so quickly on the outside; Ciri’s belly button is just about gone. It’s amazing to see her grow from the inside too, though… just look at her… that’s my little daughter with her big cheeks…

OK, here are the pictures. Ciriana and the baby, will have their next appointment on the 27th of February. Can’t wait! Ciriana is getting so big! I have pictures of her coming soon!

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We’re so excited to know that we’re going to have a girl! Ciriana really wanted a boy and I really wanted a girl, but we would have been fine with the opposite. Of course I have to say that I win! Ha!

When we went to the ultrasound appointment, we were still a bit undecided about finding out the gender, but when the technician flipped the baby upside down, I could tell it was girl. She asked us if we wanted to know and Ciri and I looked at each other, and said, “Do you want to know?” We laughed because we both really wanted to know and but we weren’t sure if the other wanted to know… right. Neither of us could definetly say what we wanted, so… we let fate decide…. I flipped a coin… Yes, my daughter, if one day you read this, we let the ambiguos United States Nickel to be the conduit of our fates.

Anyway, I have some photos of the Ultrasound, one is the splash page to The Guamaso, which happens to be the best shot. But I have one of her down under parts, which will remain offline and for future blackmailing purposes when she decides she is of the dating age. We have another one that makes her look like the Emperor from Star Wars… heh. I will post a couple more pictures of those when I get a chance. Also, I have some Christmas pictures too. And updated pics of the house as well. All in good time.