It's A...

Ladies and Gents, the gender portion of the betting pool is closed. Most of you who declared wagers were correct. And so was I.

The ultrasound doctor who came in to chat with me and I.F. assured us that physically, Tempest is in fabulous condition. He said that the placenta is attached way up at the top of my uterus, which is good. The umbilical cord is attached against the wall of the uterus, which isn’t the best scenario, but it’s not the worst, either. It just means that I’ll have to have monthly ultrasounds to monitor the baby’s growth, starting at week 28. Basically they’ll make sure that he’s getting enough nutrients through his umbilical cord.

The other thing is that the choroid plexus in the first and second ventricles in Tempest’s brain are dangling. It’s only a 3-3.5mm dangle, which the doctor is certain means nothing at all, because it’s not significantly beyond normal range. However, there are two papers published by the obstetrical community which suggest that the situation is worse than the ultrasound doctor and his fellows have ever seen in their practice. (The ultrasound doctor has been in practice outside fellowship for 17+ years.) In other words, these two papers say it’s a “thing” when it’s really not a “thing.” But I.F. is worried anyway, as he tends to be.

I’m also being tested for cytomegalovirus (CMV). The ultrasound doctor said he’s only seen congenital CMV once in his 17 years of obstetrical practice, but I.F. likes to err on the side of caution, and since all it meant was a quick blood drawing, I didn’t see a need to argue. I also learned that CMV is pretty harmless to adults, but it can affect babies in utero and cause neurological defects. I’m not going to mention how it manifests in a pregnant woman, because it’s so rare that it’s not worth getting other preggosauruses nervous.