Boy or Girl Baby?

It's official. Our baby is a boy or a girl. Unfortunately we don't know which one. Randy has convinced me, slightly begrudgingly, that we should wait and see what the baby is when it is born. So we got to see this little peanut, well, all except his/her private parts. The baby's due date will remain the same (Oct 23rd). It is growing just as it should be size wise. I made the ultrasound technician write down the baby's sex and put it in an envelope. That way, if I can't stand it anymore and I bug
Randy enough, I can still be able to find out what it is. (I still think it's a boy though).

 Cute right?

 We went out to lunch after the ultrasound. Here is Randy holding the envelope with the sex of the baby inside. He wouldn't even let me hold it because he was afraid I would try to get a peek. He was right to be afraid.

 

We thought everything was fine with the baby when we left the ultrasound appointment. They gave us no hints that they found anything, but unfortunately, later that day, I received a call from my midwife telling me that the baby has a varix on it's umbilical cord. To explain a little more, here is the email letter I sent out to the family asking for prayers.

Hey everyone,

Randy and I wanted to let you know what is going on with our baby. We have talked with some of you over the phone, so this isn't news for some.

    We went in for our 19 week ultrasound on Wednesday and left feeling great because everything looked perfect! I was a little bit frustrated, however, because we didn't find out the sex of the baby. but that's neither here nor there. Later on though, after a doctor and my midwife had reviewed the ultrasound, I received a call from my midwife. She told me that everything did look great, heart, brain, limbs, size, kidneys etc,  but they found what they call an umbilical cord varix.
    She explained it as kind of like a small varicose vein on the umbilical cord. This is extremely rare. one study I read said that  they found 2.8 cases in every 1,000 pregnancies. The problem with the bulging vein is that it can grow bigger and burst at any time. If, in fact, it does burst, the baby will die. If it doesn't burst or even grow bigger, the baby is likely to be fine. A lot of times UCV comes with other abnormalities such as a small baby, cleft pallet, clubbed feet, down syndrome, and many other things. These don't seem to be present in my baby and that is a GOOD thing. What we are going to do from here on out is have regular ultrasounds to monitor the baby and see if the varix is growing. There really isn't much else we can do. I am now considered a high risk pregnancy so I'm sure I will switch to a high risk doctor instead of sticking with my midwife. Most doctors have not dealt with this issue,which makes me nervous. I am also likely to be induced as soon as I make it full term (37 weeks) because once the baby is out there is no cord, therefore, the baby is fine. 

    So, there's our news! not great news I know. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet. I'm worried of course, but there isn't anything I can do. Like all things, it is in the Lords hands and I'm praying to be OK with whatever Heavenly Father decides needs to be done. We would appreciate any prayers, any research on this little known topic, and just to know that our family is supporting us come what may.

Thanks everyone,

Heather

I'm worried, of course. I know there is nothing I can do about this now, or ever, and that worrying does no good, but it is scary. Every time the baby moves I sigh in relief because I know it is ok. It is going to be difficult to wait another 10 weeks before I have another ultrasound with the high risk doctor.