Olive’s Blog

The first image that came up on the monitor showed lots of darkness surrounding Baby, which is the amniotic fluid… EVIDENCE OF KIDNEYS!!!!!!! We were immediately being put at ease and able to actually enjoy the experience! The radiologists found everything that they wanted to, all major organs, including two healthy, functioning kidneys, and all extremities, as far as could be assessed via ultrasound. Since everything seems to be healthy as hoped, we kept with our plan to keep Baby’s gender a Christmas surprise (due date is 12/28!), although the radiologist said it was obvious to her. =)  We may even go forth with our desire for a home birth… we’ll see!

This feels like the beginning of a new pregnancy. I’ve already noticed a change in Colby in how he’s now allowing himself to get excited about Baby. And in perfect timing, he got to feel this baby move for the very first time last night as we were falling asleep.

Now for a sneek peek:

Baby’s profile with hand up to mouth and knee bent…

Profile of Baby’s face:

Profile of Baby’s face with mouth open, swallowing fluid, which technically is pee…. Let me help you understand the beauty of this…. Baby uses kidneys in order to pee, creating the amniotic fluid, which surrounds and protects him/her. Baby then swallows and practices “breathing” the fluid, which continues the process, meanwhle developing Baby’s lungs for life outside my womb. Since Olive did not develop kidneys, she was unable to creat fluid to help in the development of her lungs. And that is why this sonogram of Baby swalloing its own pee is such a beautiful thing. =)

Thanks everybody for your encouraging emails and phone calls, and especially for joining with us to pray for this baby until he or she is safely in our arms… (Then we’ll really need to start praying!)