The good news post

We have lots of good news to report from the last week!  I had my midway pregnancy ultrasound on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the baby looked great.  It was reassuring to hear that all the organs looked great and that everything appears to be healthy.  We have chosen again not to find out what we're going to have, and I don't have a strong feeling either way if it's a boy or girl.  The baby was breach, which is normal at this stage because they can still move around a lot, but it made it difficult to see its face.  We ended up with just a few fuzzy 3-D pictures.  Dr. Kushnir seemed very thorough with the ultrasound and was good at explaining each thing as he saw it.   He seemed sure that the baby's heart looked healthy as well, but experience tells us these things aren't always detected.  We followed up with a really nice Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house on Thursday with all the family.  Em, Kate, and I braved the stores on Thanksgiving night, actually just Target.  I did get some Christmas shopping done and this year it was worth the deals.  It was really nice to just spend a few days at home, not working, and enjoying spending time with my sisters, Oliver, and the girls.  All six cousins went to see frozen over the holiday weekend, which they all enjoyed immensely, even Adelaide who sat still to the whole movie.

The week began on Monday this week with my fetal echocardiogram with the pediatric cardiologist.  These types of appointments don't come without some bit of anxiety.  Although Sofia's heart condition is not considered genetic, we do carry a slightly higher risk of having another baby with a heart defect. The fetal echo can provide much better pictures of the heart than a standard ultrasound.  It is amazing what can be seen this early when the baby is the size of a spaghetti squash!  We liked Dr. Erenberg, and thought she was very thorough and answered all of our questions.  And the best news of all is that the baby's heart looked great!  She was able to see everything that she needed to, after a lot of waiting for the baby to get in good position, and we don't need to follow up with her again.  When I had my fetal echo done with Adelaide, she was uncooperative, and I had to go back in for a follow-up to get additional images.  21 weeks is a long time to wait into the pregnancy to make sure that everything looks healthy, but it was definitely worth the wait.

Sofia also had her cardiology appointment this week with Dr. Edwards.  She hasn't been since August so she was on a four month appointment schedule, which wasn't bad.  The only medication she is on now is Coumadin, she came off Lasix (diuretic) about a month ago.  Her pulse ox is 94, which is a great number for her.  She has gained 2 pounds since August, which is probably why we've had a hard time regulating her INR.... she's growing, and Coumadin is a touchy medication.  She also had an echo and EKG performed today, and Dr. Edwards was pleased with everything.  We were given a pass to come back in six months, which is great.  The next time we will go back we will have a six week old baby!  We are so thankful for Sofia's continued good health.

Our house is going back on the market this week, as our buyer's financing fell through.  I am focusing on the positive, and I'm glad that we will be at our house for the holidays.  Things have a way of working themselves out and I'm sure we will be in a new place in no time.  Right now I'm just on a high from my and Sofia's appointments and am happy with all the good news.  With the holidays and Sofia's 5th birthday coming up it is easy to remember the things we are grateful for and not focus on the things that aren't the way we want them to be.