Weekly check-up & Sonogram (May 30th)

Weight: Same as last week
Vitals: 120/70
Fetal heartbeat: 143-147 bpm (good)
Test result: Strep B - Negative (good!)

Michael and I met Dr. Eileen DeMarco today. She's nice -- very business-like. Felt the baby, confirmed head is down, said 'medium-sized' -- in the 7 pound range. Did an internal inspection -- said I'm starting to efface, but not dilated significantly. She mentioned she's on call on Fridays (June 15th is a Friday) but not the weekend of the 16th-17th, so it is a lottery in terms of which doctor will be on call when it's time to deliver.

The only thing on my mind was lack of movement. The Bean has been active every day for the past several weeks at many points throughout the day and night so that I've had no second thoughts about tracking fetal movement. Yesterday, I spent a good chunk of the day outdoors doing errands, and felt movement only twice, and none at night when I went to bed. This morning was very quiet -- no movement.

Dr. DeMarco said it's likely everything is ok, but indicated we should get a sonogram to check measurements and amniotic fluid levels to be safe. It's fairly routine to have a sonogram around week 38.

We were asked to stay and get the sonogram today, so Michael and I went to lunch and came back. The same radiologist who did our 19-week sonogram performed today's scan. Because the baby is big now, it was not easy to understand what was on the screen, and we couldn't tell what we were seeing. The radiologist said the baby looks fine: heartbeat, proportions and fluid levels all good and weight is 7 pounds 2 ounces based on the measurements! There was a good shot of a foot, so she printed that out for us to take home. I'll post it here once Michael gets home and we can scan it. She said we'll be fine and encouraged me to give the Bean a poke once in awhile if he/she has been dormant for a long time.

One thing I noticed: the radiologist referred to the Bean as 'him'!

Car chase (March 10, 2007)

On the walk to Whole Foods to buy groceries this afternoon, I bumped into a crowd gathering at 7th Avenue on 25th Street. 7th Avenue was cordoned off to film a high speed car chase for the movie "Bourne Ultimatum", starring Matt Damon. Pedestrians were asked to wait inside stores and on street corners until the car chase scene was completed for safety reasons. Shortly after I arrived, Matt Damon drove a NY City Police car at high speed down 7th and took a sharp left at 25th, followed closely by a black SUV with a camera mounted on the roof. On the way home, along 25th while walking toward 8th Avenue, I passed several residential trailers (for cast or crew) as a trailer that had 6 lavatories (3 labeled 'Stunts', 2 labeled 'star', and one labeled 'ladies'), and one or two scrubby looking guys with cameras hanging around to get photos.

In terms of celebrity sightings while living in NYC, I've seen Sarah Jessica Parker shopping at Whole Foods, Jodie Foster shopping at Design Within Reach, Tom Brady and Giselle Bundchen walking hand-in-hand near the Spotted Pig, where we went for my birthday brunch in February, and Molly Shannon walking and talking on her cell phone on 60th Street.

My sugar test results were within normal range.

Good news confirmed (Friday, 15 December 2006)

Jennifer and I spoke by phone and she confirmed the good news. All is well genetically speaking.

We elected not to find out the sex of the baby, though it is very tempting. She and Dr. Holden have copies of the results, so if we change our mind, we can ask either of them and they’ll tell us.

I find myself referring to the Bean as 'him' but hope that we'll have a girl, though we'll be thrilled with a healthy baby, period.

Preliminary good news... (Monday, 11 December 2006)

Jennifer, the genetic counselor who works for Dr. Wapner, left a voicemail message today saying “Excellent news. Your preliminary test results are in. Good news. Please call me.” I knew she wouldn’t say ‘excellent’ in a voicemail message if there were any problems with the results, which are 95% accurate. Got teary with relief about the good news on the plane as we taxied to the terminal. The lady who sat next to me asked if I was ok, and I told her I had gotten good news in spite of looking like I was crying. I can cry at the drop of a hat these days... the news (good or bad), certain TV commercials, etc. I've been like this since September, and now I know why. Hormones.