Belly and Baby Update: 21 weeks

This week we went for a fetal Echocardiogram. It's basically an ultrasound of the baby's heart. They look at the structure and function of the heart and make sure that it's growing and developing like it should.

In IDM's (or medical speak for "infants of diabetic mothers"), there is an increased risk of congenital heart defects. This is definitely something I know a lot about from working in the NICU and have seen frequently. The most common congenital heart problem in IDMs isn't actually a defect but is congenital cardiomyopathy. It's where the muscles in the walls of the heart grow bigger than they should. And unlike most muscles, as the heart muscle gets bigger it stops functioning properly. Most IDMs grow out of this after birth and the biggest concern is that it doesn't cause the baby too many problems before he/she can grow out of it.

In a nutshell, this is what I've been most worried about during this pregnancy. Of course, I want her to grow appropriately (not get too big) prior to delivery and I want her blood sugars to be okay when she first comes out. But these issues are, for the most part, transient and won't create long-term issues in an infant. Congenital heart defects are horrible and don't let kids be kids. They require surgeries and ventilators and could in some cases be fatal. Even though IDMs have a greater risk of this happening to them, the overall risk is still pretty small, especially in mom's who are well-controlled. But, as a parent, I'm finding that no matter how small the risk, I still worry about my little girl.

So I'm relieved, happy . . well, ecstatic to report we had the Echo yesterday and her heart, just like the rest of her, is PERFECT!!! We also got another glimpse at her face and the tech was so awesome she even flipped on the 3D machine and let us get a peak at her face in 3D. She didn't cooperate much but it was still awesome!

Here are some pics from our ultrasound and an update on the belly:

This is an updated profile shot. It's so weird because I always hear moms gush about their kids ultrasounds and they just all look the same to me. But, seriously, I love her to death and everytime I see her I think that blurry, black and white, barely distinguishable image gets cuter and CUTER!

This is her being a little shy. The ultrasound tech grabbed the 3D wand and tried to get some 3D images of her face and she kept turning away (facing my spine) and putting her hands up over her face. But I still think it's precious!

And this is the only 3D shot we managed to get of her face. Not the greatest but still adorable!

Okay, this was the last belly image I shared at 15 weeks or so.

Here it is at 18 weeks. Not a great shot. It was night and for some reason I got a wild hair and grabbed my camera. The light was horrible but, oh well, you get the picture.

And here we are yesterday at 21 weeks and 3 days. Holy moly! I'm getting HUGE!

That's it for now. . . other than to say I'm loving every minute of this and can't wait to meet her this winter!

~Layne