22 Week Ultrasound

I had my follow up ultrasound on 10/27/10. The month prior, the doctor was unable to see the heart well so he wanted to check it when baby was bigger. This time it was clearly visible and everything looked normal. Yay! We could still see the bright spot but the doctor wasn't concerned about it. This time we had a different doctor. He seemed more relaxed and told us our baby boy looks great and he thinks it's highly unlikely that he has a chromosomal abnormality. He thinks the club feet are isolated and his only issue. And he assured us that it's easy to treat. We're so grateful to be able to relax more about everything. We just love our baby boy so much!

I've been doing a lot of research trying to understand it all. We're hoping to take him to Shriner's Hospital. Right now the plan is to have him evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon when he's born. We'll then wait a week to get his casts on so he can relax at home with us. The treatment is called the Ponseti method. It's a non surgical method that uses physical therapy and casting to correct the feet. There is only a minor surgery involved instead of a series of big surgeries.

To put it simply, he'll get casts on both legs that go from his toes to groin. They'll be changed once a week. When he's about three months he'll have a tenotomy, which is a simple surgery where they cut the heel cord (achilles tendon) to allow the muscle to lengthen. Then he'll have a cast for a few more weeks. After that he'll wear a bar with little shoes attached to it. He's gonna be a good snowboarder in no time.

I'll have to give him sponge baths since he can only have a real bath once a week. I feel like he's a tough little guy and will probably handle it all better than me. I just love him so much already, I feel bad he has to wear casts right from the start. But it'll fix his cute little feet quick so he can walk normally and play like little boys should.

So...back to the ultrasound. Baby boy was doing yoga so it was hard to get clear pictures. I'm not sure how doing yoga influences a good profile picture though. They only gave us a couple pictures and the profile ones were unrecognizable. I feel kinda bitter at the tech for it. I've nicknamed her "poundy woman" because she was pretty much attacking me and baby with the ultrasound wand to get him to move. We didn't appreciate that ;) We only got two distinguishable pictures...

This is his cute little face...he looks kinda like a kitten. Thank goodness he's not a kitten though :) 

This is his cute little hand.

Since we didn't get a lot of pictures, it made me really want a 4D ultrasound for Christmas. (Hint hint...wink wink.) I just want to see him better on ultrasound...it's $150 though. Larry isn't going for it at this time. I'm determined to get my wish though! Maybe I'll wait to ask again when he's on some serious pain killers...hmm. Speaking of which, the poor guy has been really sick. He should be getting his surgery soon hopefully. I feel so bad for him.

I wanted more pictures so I pulled out the ultrasound video from his 18 week ultrasound and took screen shots. Yeah...I'm talented like that. Ha.

My baby has the cutest little toes! :D I just can't get over his cuteness.

Look at the cute little club foot.

I think this is the other club foot. I know one of them looks more turned in than the other. See his cute leg with the little foot turned to the side?

 He is so precious! Look, he's sticking out his little tongue. I love this little boy!