Ultrasound Day

Today was our second ultrasound day! 20 weeks along now and Baby is 18 weeks old. Brent and I took the morning off work and went to the ultrasound appointment together. Baby looks so cute in there!! It was so awesome to see how much bigger the baby is now since the first ultrasound. Baby was really rockin' and rollin' in there and moving his/her arms and legs. It was awesome! We saw the little face and the profile is amazing - the little nose is SO cute! The ultrasound tech said Baby weighs 12 oz, which is right on target. The heart rate today was 154 - I think we have a trickster on our hands and now we have no idea if it's a boy or a girl. The ultrasound tech said she didn't even look. :o) They checked out all of baby's organs - the heart has the four chambers and was beating great. Baby's head measures the right size. One concerning finding was the right kidney. It is bigger than it should be and is retaining fluid. The ultrasound tech said this is a very common finding, they see it once every week to two weeks on ultrasounds. She said that the kidney is not draining the urine well, maybe the valves are still underdeveloped. The left kidney is normal size. She said the bladder is working fine and the amount of amniotic fluid around the baby is normal. They are going to watch the kidney closely and monitor its size. It may return to normal on its own. If not, they will watch the amount of amniotic fluid, etc. Baby may need to have tests done after he/she is born and worst case senario is surgery to correct the kidney if needed.

They are going to send me to a "high risk" OB doctor in Orlando at Winnie Palmer Children's Hospital. Probably will have an appointment in the next couple of weeks. They will repeat the ultrasound and they have more specialized equipment there. They say this is a common problem, but no matter how common...it is still upsetting. My niece Olivia actually had enlarged kidneys and hers were found on ultrasound, too. She had testing after she was born and everything corrected itself and she does not have any problems at all. But, as first time mom and dad here, it wasn't easy for me and Brent to hear "high risk". We are keeping everything in perspective at this point. We will see what happens and just keep praying. I am crazy about our little baby inside...I fell in love even more today.

I posted a new picture of my belly - getting big! And a picture from today's ultrasound to show - isn't it the cutest baby in black in white you've ever seen?! Check out the foot sticking straight up!

Brent and I have an excited weekend planned. We are flying to Grosse Pointe on Friday evening and staying until Monday afternoon. We are meeting with our realtor and will be seeing several houses and hopefully finding just the one we want. If so, we'll be starting to put down some offers and hope we can get our first little home. My parents and Brent's parents are driving up and will be hanging out with us and helping us look at homes. We can't wait to see them and I can't wait for them to see my belly!

I have a cold again - very congested, probably a sinus infection. Have been slightly miserable for a week and now starting with the cough again. Plus, I have conjuctivitis in my eyes (they're all red and crazy). My doctor put me on Zithromax again. I think the baby's middle name will be Zithromax .... Anna Zithromax Hartsell or how about Rowan Z-Pack Hartsell. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

Say prayers for our baby and the little right kidney. I so hope everything turns out okay. I'm 20 weeks along now - half way done. These last 20 weeks will probably drag on now....I just want to see and hold Baby Hartsell. And kiss that cutest nose on that ultrasound.