Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Conrad's Sister Wish

He's made it very clear from the beginning of this pregnancy that he wants a sister. He was quite indignant the day I told him he would have another brother instead of a sister. Yesterday, he told me he's sad about Fisher. He's not happy his little brother won't be able to stay with us very long. Today, he's back on the sister track. When I was hanging out the wash he asked me if we could name his sister Nim. I said it was a nice name, but I didn't want to name any of my children after a movie. Besides, we don't know if there will be a sister. He wasn't so easily dissuaded and continued with the name conversation. Conrad said if we wouldn't use Nim for a name we should go back to our original plan to use Matilda for his sister. I told him I'm kind of burned out on that name since I've had to listen to "Waltzing Matilda" almost daily for a few months now. But, he insists it would be great because he could sing it to her. At the end of our conversation he added, "We can only name her Matilda if she has a brain. I don't want to give that name to a baby with anencephaly." I wish I could give him back the care-free time he had when he didn't know such things existed.

Ultrasound Session

Yesterday we went to First Look Sonogram to get 3-D scans of Fisher. Normally I wouldn't have done something like that because I suspect ultrasound bothers babies. Since we won't be getting much footage of Fisher I made an exception. The two scans the doctor gave me just weren't enough.

This is what I learned from the session. First, it's good to be hydrated. The technician kept commenting on how great it was that I had enough amniotic fluid to get good images. I think it may be more related to Fisher's condition than how much water I've been drinking. Second, some kids just won't cooperate. The poor technician tried putting me in several positions to dislodge Fisher's head from the uterine wall. She even had me get on my hands and knees for a while. He wouldn't budge. In fact, it seemed as if he was trying to cover up the rest of his face. Either he'd put his hand over it or he'd grab the umbilical cord and pull it up covering part of his face. He's either shy or was upset that we were disturbing his nap. The third thing I learned is that I really needed these images for healing. The only 3-D image the perinatologist took of Fisher's face was ghastly to look at and it was the last one she showed me before sending me off to see the genetic counselor. I needed to know that he would still have an adorable face in spite of it all.

I've posted a couple of the scans from the session on the right sidebar of the page. I'd do a slide show or something like it if I could figure out Picasa Web.