Darwintoo/Stormageddon/StormyD no longer...

The placenta is an evolutionary marvel, in my opinion. These beautiful organs have likely been around since just after the (non-avian) dinos got evicted by a very large space rock and 95% of the 5500 living mammal species have them (the other 300 species comprise the likes of kangas, roos and platypus superheros that provide lovely pouches or eggs for their wee ones). 

This fantastic sandwich of maternal tissue (the decidua) and embryonic tissue (the chorion) finds its etymology in the Latin word for flat cake. (Placenta-replica cake for my next birthday, please?! The more vascularised, the better!)  >>warning, if you like cake, probs not a great idea to click on that last link! 

At 11:13am (MST) I turned 39. Kay and I are celebrating by doing things we won't get to do again once StormyD shows up! That is: sleeping in, going to a fabulous dinner (last night at Corso 32) and a movie tonight (Ender's Game). 

>>Small but important aside here: Ender's Game is Kay's favourite book. Unfortunately the author, Orson Scott Card, believes that "laws against homosexuality should remain on the books...to send a clear message that those who flagrantly violate society's regulation of sexual behavior cannot be permitted to remain as acceptable, equal citizens within that society". I believe he is referring to the laws and members

It has been drawn to my attention (by my single reader) that it is a cruel, cruel thing to have left the blog un-updated at such a place in the plot. What were the results of the Nuchal Translucency scan? Did anyone get eaten by the Smilodon?! As Darwintoo: Stormageddon (Stormy or StormyD for short) is showing you in her pic below, all is thumbs up! Here is some updatey goodness for you!

Apparently, neck folds are wonderful diagnostic tools. Between 11weeks and 13weeks 6days, the fluid between the folds in the foetus' neck can be measured in a Nuchal Translucency Scan. These measurements are correlated with maternal blood to give a probability ratio for the risk of Trisomy (a third copy of) in chromosome 13, 18 or 21.

Who knows what criteria we should be using to pick an OB? I sure don't! I read some reviews online but I'm pretty certain that most people on Rate MDs are disgruntled so the bias might be a little skewed (in general, the gruntled are not too motivated to post).

In the end we chose based on which hospital looked like a winner from its online tour (cuz it is very likely that some other doc will be on call when we deliver, anyway) and on a recommendation from K's co-worker's-sister-who-is-an-OB-on-mat-leave.

We got to meet our new doc today and she is friendly and efficient! Most importantly, we got to see Darwintoo again (although she is tough to make out in that wee pic)!

The first ultrasound is amazeballs! I wasn't sure what I was expecting but nothing could prepare me for the power of seeing our baby (who is called Darwintoo and considered a girl for now) for the first time. And that heartbeat brought me to tears (and is again as I write this :)). Both K and I found ourselves uttering very obvious things like "there's a baby in there"! I wasn't even that eloquent but at least I didn't go into sci-fi because I was definitely thinking about Aliens.

Today is our first ultrasound. If all goes well we should find out if we have one, two, three, four (or more!) babies on the go!

We debated whether or not to put in two embryos. I was concerned for K's health (she has injured her back in the past) any the babies' health and, between you and me, am a little scared of two babies (let alone two babies all at once!). We went with two to increase our odds of getting pregnant, especially given the journey (emotional and physical) that this has been. Note: a recent study suggests that our logic on that isn't entirely sound.