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Lots has happened over the last 2 weeks, including but not limited to a pipe bursting in our basement, causing some minor flooding.  It could have been much worse, so we're lucky in that regard.  But all of that is beside the point.  The central event over the last 2 weeks was my sonogram.  I am SO relieved to say that it went as well as could be expected.  

You know how it goes - during the sonogram, the tech performing it really isn't allowed to tell you anything other than "here's the leg, here's the left hand", etc.  There were a few clues that we (us being expert sonogram readers you know) tuned into during that gave us a good feeling.  The baby was sucking it's thumb and swallowing fluid.  Marco never opened his mouth since his jaw was fused shut (which we didn't know at the time), so as soon as we saw this one (as with Lucia) opening it's mouth, we gave each other the look.  The everything-is-OK look.  

After the sono, the perinatologist came in.  Of course it was one of the 2 doctors that we're not a huge fan of.  He's the one who gave us the horrible news that Marco had serious issues on that hot August day almost 6 years ago.  He is the one who performed my amniocentesis that day, withdrawing fluid from my womb where my precious Marco was living.  

I realized when he came in last week to talk to us about the sono we had just had, that he's actually a nice guy, and maybe it's just that he's so laid back that he's maybe too laid back?  If that makes any sense.  When he came in, he started looking through our notes and asking us questions about our history.  He was thoughtful and sincere during this process, but I couldn't help but to wonder if he realized, as he was looking through those pages, just how nightmarish those days were for us.  That piece of paper from our first visit with him on August 19, 2009 gave him clinical information.  But August 19, 2009 was the first day we were knocked off our feet and was one of the worst days of my life, aside from the day that Marco died and the immediate months following.

Anyway, he was going through my chart and asking us questions for a good 5 plus minutes without saying anything at that point regarding the status of this baby.  Bruno and I were still holding our breath, as we knew the moment we'd been waiting for over the last 20 weeks was coming soon.  The doctor finally said something to the effect that he was just trying to figure out what we'd do this time around, with this pregnancy.  To which I replied, "well, assuming the baby is healthy...".  Which finally prompted him to say, "oh yeah, everything's fine".  Annnnnnd EXHALE.  Sheesh, you think you could have said that a little sooner, doctor?!  He proceeded to scan the baby for a few minutes just to look for himself, but he concluded that everything indeed was "all good".  

At the end, he made a point to say that he'd put in the note to my OB that we declined genetic testing, which gave me a little doubt.  Was there a reason other than the fact that Marco had a rare genetic disorder that indicated that I should have genetic testing?  But no, I know that he was just covering himself by verifying that out loud and that he would have told us if there was any cause for concern with this particular pregnancy. I called my OB after I left his office to process all of this and confirm.  She assured me that he would have called her if there were any problems and that they always say those things to cover their butts.

We'll go back in another few weeks just to check on the growth.  Assuming everything looks good then, that may be our last sono.  I hit 21 weeks this week, and I'm just feeling so grateful and relieved right now.  Of course the anxiety is still there...being overly cautious not to do anything that could mess this up...even though rationally I know that there is not much within my control that I could do to mess things up.  So I just continue to breathe, and hope that all continues to go well and that I can enjoy these next 17 weeks.

In other news - it's a GIRL!  We had a little gender reveal/balloon release the day of the sonogram with just Bruno, Lucia and myself.  Some neighbors were walking by and got a few pictures :)

Marco, what a relief it was to see baby Sparky on the big screen last week. Thank you for continuing to give us strength and courage as we navigate this very special time.  We love you so much!