A wave from baby Rummel

Yesterday was a NT ultrasound. Ugh. Pretty scary stuff especially for someone as neurotic as me. I have asked a bunch of my girlfriends if they had done prenatal screening and many have encouraged me to run far, far, far away from such a thing. Many said that the fear that would follow after a positive screening for possible birth defects would be overwhelming and ruin a lot of the happiness that I could be feeling during the pregnancy. But after reviewing the program with my physician father and talking it over with Beau, we all agreed that we shouldn't run from something that might be scary and bring us upsetting news. We agreed that we should be as prepared as possible.

So off Beau and I went to the specialist's office for our 11:15am appointment. I had a bunch of thoughts twirling in my head, mostly negative. Yep that is my tendency, to assume the worst. But this time, even though I had some negative thoughts, I could feel God there. He definitely allowed me to push past these thoughts and not feel as fearful and scared as I normally would have in this situation.

We walked into the doctor's office, filled out a million forms and then walked to a small room in the back. As I started to get myself situated to see our little one, an ultrasound tech walks back, introduces herself, and gets started even before I am able to go through my normal freak out, mental routine. I definitely think that is another God intervention that happened yesterday. He almost didn't allow me to have the time to "think too much." I'm thankful for that.

So Beau sits down and has a front row seat to a big monitor. The ultrasound begins, and BAM! There is little baby Rummel. Ha! What a cool image! And what a difference from the 8-week ultrasound. Amazing that 4 weeks later, this baby actually looks like a baby. Maybe more like a skeleton...a skeleton alien...but nonetheless, a baby. And then...the ultimate gift from our awesome Physician up above. Baby Rummel lifts his/her little arm and waves at the monitor! Ha ha! So funny and so cool. Beau and me laughed so hard at that moment. Then the tech tells us that this little one is being uncooperative as she was trying to take a measurement to assess the potential for Down Syndrome/heart defects etc. Beau and me laughed again. Of course this baby is going to be uncooperative...a lot like his or her daddy :-)! Finally after lying on my side for a few minutes, the baby shifts and then the tech is able to get the measurements she needs.

While we don't know the results yet, we were just so blessed at that moment. After going through January's sadness, to see our baby, with a really strong heart beat moving around and waving at us....we were simply, filled with joy. What a blessing.

Of course, being the control freak I am, I took the NT measurement I saw on the papers and looked up normal measurements when I got home to my computer. And while the number seems to fit well within normal range, I know that the comprehensive results aren't in yet and the possibility of something wrong appearing might occur. But I know that we aren't alone. I really find peace in what God is doing and we definitely feel Him as we are embarking on this really cool journey.

For the rest of the day yesterday, I just couldn't get the little image of baby Rummel waving at us. I also loved seeing my husband smile a bit more and have him kiss my growing belly. Overall it was a good day for the Rummel house. Thank you all for your prayers, they mean the world to us. I'll keep everyone posted after tomorrow, the 12-week appointment.