This morning’s trip to the high-risk pregnancy doctor’s office went well. Our OB/GYN sent us there due to some coroid plexus cysts she saw in our little boy’s head during the sonogram last week.

Aside: the coroid plexus is the area of the brain that creates the fluid that surrounds the brain. It is not uncommon for these cysts to form at any given time during life; they are temporary and short-lived. If any one of us were to be scanned at any point in life, there might be one there; scan yourself a few months later, and it would be gone. They are not harmful and are not definitive indicators of any disease or condition.

The doctor really put our minds at ease after describing the reasons we were sent there and the things she was looking for as indicators of other issues with the baby. She found none of the other indicators; on the contrary, everything looked normal. We got to see blood vessels, the brain, the stomach, the kidneys, arms, legs, bones, and even fingers! And, his little fist was clenched with a thumb sticking up — it was his first “Gig’em!”, I’m sure:

All in all, it was a good visit. The sonogram nurse (Jasmin) and the doctor (Dr. Santiago) answered all our specific questions and reassured us. While nothing is 100% certain in life, she was confident that all looked normal and she didn’t need us to come back for a follow-up. By the way, Children’s Medical Center at Legacy is amazing….

For those interested, I’ve posted a video of today’s sonogram. It’s quite large (~204 megabytes) and long (~37 minutes). But, there is a lot there to see. All the shaking is Jasmin (the sonogram nurse) trying to wake the little guy up!

Here is kind of a play-by-play, if you want to follow along. Download the video here.

00:00:04 – 00:00:10 — You can see the baby’s fist

00:00:21 – 00:00:28 — You can see the baby’s kidneys

00:01:17 – 00:01:20 — Confirming it’s a boy

00:01:33 – 00:01:42 — Looking at the umbilical cord blood flow

00:01:49 – 00:02:03 — You can see the baby’s femur (thigh bone)

00:02:14 – 00:02:26 — You can see the baby’s tibia/fibula (calf bones)

00:02:30 – 00:02:58 — You can see the baby’s footprints

00:03:14 – 00:03:30 — You can see the umbilical cord

00:03:35 – 00:05:38 — Baby’s heart beating/blood flow (145 beats per minute)

00:05:39 – 00:05:45 — Confirming the heart vein orientation

00:07:59 – 00:08:07 — Looking at the baby’s ulna/radius (lower arm bones)

00:08:18 – 00:09:08 — Looking at the baby’s spine and ribs

00:09:21 – 00:09:24 — Looking at the baby’s heel (Amanda thinks he’s a runner)

00:10:40 – 00:12:16 — Looking at the baby’s coroid plexus and cysts

00:13:26 – 00:13:45 — Looking at the baby’s cerebrum (brain)

00:14:23 – 00:14:58 — Yep, it’s a boy

00:15:03 – 00:15:11 — Looking at the baby’s thigh bones from underneath

00:16:35 – 00:16:45 — Looking at the baby’s brain (thalamus, corpus callosum)

00:18:02 – 00:18:27 — Looking at the baby’s aorta (candy cane-shaped) and heart

00:19:29 – 00:19:42 — Confirming the other heart vein orientation

00:20:13 – 00:20:43 — Measuring the baby’s head

00:20:55 – 00:21:09 — GIG’EM! (fist with a thumb out)

00:24:58 – 00:25:05 — Looking at the baby’s upper lip

00:25:29 – 00:27:49 — The baby being uncooperative for a 4-D sonogram!

00:27:50 – 00:28:07 — Failed attempt at a 4-D sonogram (don’t worry, I don’t see anything either!)

00:29:55 – 00:30:08 — Oops – forgot a measurement (arrow points to stomach, I think)

00:30:09 – 00:30:16 — Baby weighs 11oz and is 19 weeks 5 days old

00:30:24 – 00:36:42 — Dr. Santiago comes in to check over everything

00:32:10 – 00:32:33 — Looking at baby’s stomach and kidneys

00:33:56 – 00:34:11 — Looking at the baby’s coroid plexus and cysts

00:34:12 – END — Looking at the baby’s kidneys and heart