Oh, Here is The Third Leg!

Today’s doctor visit was definitely like riding a roller coaster, a big thriller one. I was so worn out that I slept for three hours after getting home.

You know, there are those moments that you are going to discover something huge in your life, such as finding your name on the grade publishing board of college entrance exam, opening the admission envelope from your dream school, your all-dressed-up boyfriend reaching his suit pocket nervously in a fancy restaurant and saying I do in a white gown in church etc, etc, finding the baby’s sex is definitely one of the moments of this magnitude.

Both XJ and I were all excited about today’s ultrasound exam. The moment I lied down on the examining bed, we said:
“Would you please tell us the baby’s sex!” We were expecting an answer like this: “Sure, if we get lucky!!”
Instead, the radiologist calmly replied: “Well, we are not interested about that part. I am going to exam every part of your baby. If I see something, I will let you know.”

Her response, empathetical? not so much; honest? yeah absolutely! She reminded us that we got more important tasks to do today, checking and making sure the fetus is developing well. The radiologist started to take pictures of every part of the baby: heart, abdomen, face, ear, nose, mouth, arms, legs, hands and feet…The baby was moving very actively and that made examining her (we still use “her” as we didn’t know yet) a little bit hard. XJ and I glued our eyes to the monitor bugging the radiologist now and then if she had seen any part of THAT. The baby seemed really wanting to keep that a secret as she closed the two tiny legs so tightly. There was no chance for others to have a peek. I was thinking, good girl, you already know how to behave properly in public!

Everything looks fine until…

When the radiologist was taking the pictures of the baby’s head, I saw the monitor showed two big bubble shades on the baby’s head. I casually asked,
“What’s that? Is that her brain bones?”
“They are not supposed to be there. I need to look into this and you may need another ultrasound.” In a very strong Eastern European accent, the radiologist said.
“Then what is it?” XJ and I started to get nervous.
“They are called Ch…P…Cys. We have seen this in a lot of babies and most of them turned out just fine. I can’t say more than this. But your doctor will talk about it in detail with you today.”

This caught us totally off guard. We had no idea about the terminology even she explained what that part of the brain is for. All we heard was fluid, fluid, fluid. We, especially I started to panic. “Oh, my god,” I looked at XJ desperately, “our baby is not normal!” Even though the radiologist kept confirming that all the other parts look perfectly fine as she went on with the exam, we were so worried and in no mood to find out the baby’s sex any more. I looked at XJ and he started to comfort me and ask me not to worry until we talk to the OB. (I am still not sure how can he be so calm.)

“Well, I think I see something between the legs.” The Radiologist said.
“What is it?” We started to pick up some spirit again.
“I think it is a boy, but I can’t see it clearly”.
“Oh, my god, we are having a boy!?”
I asked the radiologist to prod my tummy a little bit and hopefully we can see more in that department. Several rounds later, a “third leg” kind of thing between the baby’s crossed legs popped up on the monitor and I asked,
“Is that what I was thinking?”
“I am now 100% sure it is a boy. That is his penis.” A sweet voice said.

That is it?! Here is the answer to several months' guessing game?! XJ and I started to acclaim, “Oh, we are really going to have a boy! It is official!!”

The joy of finding out the baby’s sex breezed away some dismal haze about the findings on our baby’s head. The radiologist finished her job and went to ask another senior radiologist to take another look at our baby. I lied on the bed, XJ holding my hand. We started at each other feeling, sweet sorrow. What if...what if…

A senior radiologist came and repeated the whole procedure, examining and taking pictures of every part of the baby. After she finished, she told us that everything looks fine except the brain part. Again she told us there was nothing to worry about and my OB will talk about it with us. Don’t you hate it when people keep telling you this! But what else can they say?

With the report in hand, we finally saw the word of the symptom. It is called “Choroid Plexus Cyst”. In the OB’s waiting room, XJ whipped out iphone and we started to google everything about this CPC. (Today, iphone looked even lovely to us than ever) We started to calm down as we read on the articles about CPC and its causes and consequences. It seems that it is a quite common thing for fetus to develop and it will go away by the 3rd trimester. There is potential risk of chromosomal problems but the risk is quite minimal.

By the time we got into the OB’s room, we already calmed down. We shared the joy of finding the sex of the baby with her. She reviewed the report with us and made sure we understand there was nothing wrong with the baby’s brain. In our case given that all the other parts are totally fine and the very low risk factor of the first trimester screen test, our baby having chromosomal problem is very low (0.1%). We don't need to worry about it and should continue enjoy the pregnancy.

Walking out of the hospital, hand in hand to the car, phew, what a drive! Known to XJ as a worry babe, he made sure I listened to what the OB said and stop thinking it as such a bad thing anymore. In the way home, I started to resonate with what my mommy-friends said: I used to say that I wish our baby get my eyes, XJ’s nose etc, etc. They always told me, “When you are becoming a mommy, you just wish your babies be normal.” I realized today it can’t be more true!

Let's pray...