16 week u/s

Today I was at my fertility clinic for my 16 week cervix u/s.  My cervix is holding steady at 3.2 cm.  I was told that it was a good number.  My RE is also a specialist in progesterone.  When I told him that my OB has me on progesterone every day to maintain my cervix length, my RE said that progesterone can help with pre-term labour, not maintaining cervix length.  He said to do my research and speak to my OB next week when I see him.  I'm sure when I'm procrastinating report cards this weekend I'll find time to research this.  But in the meantime, do I keep inserting progesterone every day or stop.  He said one of the side effects could be a problem with the penis if you have a boy.  The pee-hole would be in a different place.  But he said the studies are new and can't be determined exactly what causes that.

The baby is looking great.  Very active.  And measuring the same heartbeat I've been picking up - today it was 152 bpm.  And the "old wives tale" says higher than 140 bpm is a girl and lower is a boy.

My u/s at 12 weeks, if you remember, the tech working on me said she thought it was a boy without even asking if I wanted to know.  I was reluctant to believe her after looking online and finding out that all babies have a "nub" at 12 weeks and it depends on the direction of the nub.  Today I had a different tech who showed me what could very well be a penis.  She said she is 80% sure I am having a boy.

This makes me excited...not any more or less excited than I would be if I was having a girl.  Just excited to start to envision mine and SR's future with our newest family member.  Excited that the one name I have always loved will finally get to be used - and no, I won't reveal it until a week after the baby is born to keep with Jewish tradition.  If I do end up having a girl then it's back to the drawing board for names - choosing SR's name was torture and she didn't have a name for a week.  I could make my chosen name for a boy a girl's name and change the spelling...but it's always been my boy's name.  It's so early.

Today was also the part 2 blood test of the IPS test to find the ratios of the likelihood of the baby having down syndrome or another illness like spina bifida.  I will get the results in 2 weeks time.  And in 4 more weeks I will have my anatomy scan.  I could go in 3 more weeks but my mom will be out of town and she likes to come with me.

SR news:  On Wednesday I had my first parent/teacher interview where I wasn't the teacher.  A very weird feeling.  The school has binders on each child that I can access at any time.  I wish I knew.  There are photos of her doing different skills and a write up about what she was doing at the time.  There are also print outs of the developmental skills in different categories for different age groups.  They check off the developmental expectations she's accomplished so they know what to focus on.  SR is in the age group now for 15 months to 3 years.  In communication they had checked off all but two expectations - but when I read them, I could see she clearly does them always.  The teachers agreed with me and said they would check them.  The report was great.  She does everything she's supposed to.  Has a great attention span and superb communication and language skills.  All things I know.

Now I sit here thinking about her future.  She'll be starting kindergarten in a year and a half - she'll be 3 1/2 in a classroom with kids turning 5 and 6 right after she turns 4.  She'll also be in a room with 30 children and two teachers.  That scares me.  How will anyone get to know her?  I also am thinking about potentially sending her to French Immersion for grade 1...lol...she's got a long way to go until then.  I won't be able to help her with any work, and I'll have to keep her up to date in her English reading and writing, but it might be a good challenge.  I am over thinking...she's still in diapers :)