Update on Today

The ultrasound today went OK. Baby A looks good--active with a good, strong heartbeat. We were amazed at how much growth has taken place in 2 weeks. You can see the hemispheres of the brain in the head, the ribs, and even a faint line for the spine. We were able to see the spine at a different angle, and he/she appears to be sitting with crossed legs! I wish we were able to have all the pictures, but they only gave us one. The growth and development of these little people are just amazing. Here is A:

And here is what he/she looks probably looks like in "real life." Amazing!

The downer of the whole experience came when we realized that Baby B was still there and very much visible. As soon as the ultrasound started, we saw both of them. We thought that B was going to "vanish" and we wouldn't see him/her again. Well, because I was further along than when the triplet vanished, we are probably going to witness this "vanishing" taking place. Essentially, as Baby A grows, his/her weight is going to crush Baby B into the placenta. The tiny body will probably be visible at Baby A's birth. Here is our Baby B:

Ultimately, we were really caught off guard by seeing B again. It kinda put the loss right back in our faces. And knowing that at future ultrasounds we are going to witness this "vanishing" . . . ugh. I'm already dreading the next one. "Fetal demise" is the label we got. We saw loud and clear on 40-inches of flat screen hooked up to the ultrasound machine. Afterwards, Chris commented that medical people are so insensitive and callous sometimes--turn off the screen and then do your typing.

To add insult to injury, the check-out lady looked at our paperwork and said, "TRIPLETS!!!! WOW!!!" Chris very politely said, "No, not anymore. We started out with three but only have one now." The check-out lady said, "Whoo! That's a relief, huh? I bet you had to have a moment at first! That happened to my friend, too. She started off with three and then she had one!" I just didn't respond. There's no way to really explain to people that this was no accident, that we spent a ton of money and time to create these lives, that we treasured all of them, that we don't have an endless amount of chances at parenthood. She was a super nice lady, so I wasn't upset or anything; just . . . something . . . a sting, maybe.

Anyway, our meeting with the doctor went very well. We saw a different doctor in the practice and LOVED him. He was extremely sensitive and very knowledgeable about this specific situation. He recommended going to Duke Perinatal for another ultrasound in about two weeks to check things out in more detail. Because we miscarried 2 out of 3 in this pregnancy, he recommended we do the scan just to ease everyone's mind. So we'll see.

I can't begin to put into words how confusing this whole experience has been. I'll try and do a separate post later this week about some of that. We greatly appreciate all of the prayers and words of support--they truly mean so much and have always been so timely. Thank you.