Sometimes We Know Too Much!

A couple weeks ago we had our 20 week "big dog" ultrasound.  Everything at the ultrasound seemed to go smoothly, and of course, Steve made sure to let the tech know up front we didn't want to know the sex.  (I was hoping she'd slip and tell us).  It's been tough not knowing whether we'll be looking at fronting the bill for 3 weddings, or we'll get our little boy finally.  Here's some pics of our little one:

 Now when I first saw this pic, I thought for sure it was a little boy (look between those legs).  Then I realized it was probably an umbilical cord (goes to the knees).  So either we have an extremely well-endowed little boy (woop woop) or a healthy umbilical cord.

The day after my ultrasound (my bday) I received a call from my OB that the baby had a dilated kidney.  I asked her what the implications of that meant, and she said, "You are at an increased risk of the baby having Down's Syndrome."  I had the immediate feel of my stomach dropping and tears immediately streaming down my face.  I had never had any issues with either of the girls' pregnancies and never had to endure bad news about a baby.  We were on our way to a restaurant to meet Steve's family, and I felt so hopeless.  I just wanted to get home and digest her info and do some research of my own (since she didn't seem to have any further information for me).

After searching online, I realized the problem is quite common and not serious - calming my nerves.  It can be a very soft marker of Down's, but they would probably see abnormalities in the heart and brain.  Then after talking to friends, it seems even more common.  Of course, I was upset that my doctor broke the news to me the way she did, and she didn't do her research before talking to me.  

Medicine has come a long way, and I am appreciative of that, but sometimes we just know too much!  We were probably all born with dilated kidneys and didn't even know it!  There are also so many legalities involved now, that I'm sure she needed to warn me of my risk to cover her own butt!  I guess that's the price we pay nowadays for our amazing technologies.

Either way, it was a scare, but it helped Steve and I realize that we really don't care whether it's a boy or girl.  We just want a healthy baby - so cliche yet so true!