And Squall Is...

First item of note: "Squall" is the nickname I chose for the baby, because until the last few weeks, it kept causing panic storms in the form of spotting and light bleeding. (I realize it wasn't the baby's fault, but it felt apropos when it popped into my head.)

Now that our families have been informed, I can make the announcement official. But first, the background.

Due to my diagnosis of “advanced maternal age,” the OBs at the Big Hospital felt that it would be prudent to couple my 12-week ultrasound – where they measure nuchal translucency – with Non Invasive Prenatal Testing. This involves the drawing of a single vial of blood from my arm. As it turns out, some of Squall’s blood can be found in my blood stream (thanks, placenta!) This allows a laboratory in Massachusetts to identify Squall’s blood within the sample I provided, and detect any chromosomal abnormalities in the blood.

The good news is: Between the ultrasound and NIPT results, the doctors have determined that Squall is perfectly normal.

The part I forgot about the NIPT, is that it can tell you what gender the baby is. So when my Favorite Nurse at The Big Hospital called me yesterday to tell me that everything looked okay, she asked if I wanted to know Squall’s sex.

“Oh! I forgot you could do that! YES!” I responded dazedly.

“Are you sure you want to know?” She asked, trying to be sure I understood the offer.

“Yes,” I replied enthusiastically, “My husband and I agreed ages ago that we want to know.”

“Well then, it’s a boy,” my Favorite Nurse supplied; an audible smile in her voice.

I thanked her, hung up, and proceeded to tell everyone in my family. EVERYONE.

And now you all know, too! Honestly, I didn’t care whether the baby was male or female. I just wanted a healthy baby. I’m thrilled it’s a boy, but I’d be just as thrilled if my Favorite Nurse had said it was a girl.

Squall, On The Big Screen

Yesterday Husbeast and I went to the Big Hospital for our 12-week ultrasound! (This meant an early release from work for both of us, which was a marvelous little change from the usual.)

I will admit to you, ladies and gents, that I was a little nervous. What if there was something seriously wrong? What if the placenta was covering my cervix (placenta previa)? Not that it's a death sentence or anything, but I hate surgery. I'm very afraid of being cut open. What if, what if, what if?

As it turns out, Squall is growing nicely. S/he has all the necessary bits, and was easily as squirmy as his/her brother was, back in 2000. S/he did not want to be bothered or photographed or otherwise prodded. In fact, I'm quite certain I felt Squall kick the sonographer's wand several times, most likely in protest. S/he IS Husbeast's and my child, after all.

You know, after going through this process with me, three times, I kinda thought all this would be old-hat to Husbeast. But it turns out he didn't really pay attention during my pregnancies with Wiggle-Worm, Tempest and Nugget; so all this is completely new and fascinating. During the scan yesterday, he informed me and the sonographer - we'll call her the Raven-Haired Beauty, since she's done the last three scans - that he hadn't expected Squall to be this developed. Thought it would still be an amorphous blob. SURPRISE!

Lil Man has informed me that he hopes Squall is a boy, and that he plans to whisk the baby away to become his apprentice. He says that Squall will be named "Dude," will be born with the knowledge and motor control to care for himself, and that I will never see "Dude" again because he will become a little troglodyte in Lil Man's room.

Anyway; I'm sure the family (biological and otherwise) is anxious to see the photos, so I must oblige.

Here we have Squall in profile, just before s/he turned away:

Here we see Squall's tiny right foot:

Here we have a full-frontal, in which we get to see Squall's brain, left claw-like hand, and some other random bones which, being an accountant and not a sonographer, I can't be certain I can specify:

And one more wiggly profile: