Too Much Even for Me

I'm all about ultrasounds. I love every chance I can get to sneak a peak at my baby girl. I love the reassurance that she is healthy and growing. I love to see how much she has changed over the past several weeks. I love getting the pics and sharing them (which is funny because I never cared much for ultrasound pics pre-pregnancy). But yesterday's fetal echo proved to be overkill even for me.

First a little background. Jeramy's mother and sister have a heart condition called IHSS, which apparently stands for Idiopathic Hypertrophic Subaortic Stenosis (thanks again, Dr. Google). I don't know much of the details about it, but it is a rare condition where part of the heart is enlarged and thickened which obviously causes problems. Both of them have pacemakers. Jeramy has been tested and does not have this condition. Plus onset is usually not detected until about adolescence. However to be on the safe side, my OB wanted us to get a fetal echo anyhow.

Going into the appointment, I wasn't worried about the test. I was just happy to get another opportunity to see my baby. What I didn't realize is that the ultrasound would take an hour so that the technician could make all sorts of measurements of small parts of Jillian's tiny heart. This is of course was made even more difficult since my little girl is quite active and insisted on moving from one corner of my uterus to the other and then back again. She's an obstinate girl, I tell you. Much like her mother.

Now all of this might have been better, except that the technician had to use a laptop since they operate remotely at this particular location one day a week. So I wasn't even able to watch. Jeramy could see the screen, but all the detailed pictures of the heart must have gotten boring as I caught him dozing off a few times. Heck, I had a hard time staying awake. The dark room, morning hours and boredom make for a sleepy combination. Plus it has been crazy busy at work, and the appointment completely ate into time that I had set aside to prepare for a meeting later that day.

In the end, the doctor came in and pronounced Jillian's heart as perfect. Music to my ears, of course. He said that she should probably be checked again around age 5 and 12 to see if the condition develops, but she has less of a chance since Jeramy does not have it. Oh and guess what I'm doing this afternoon? Getting another ultrasound of course. This one is at my OB's office to get a better picture of the spine.

On a less thrilling note, Jeramy's union is in the middle of contract negotiations and voted to strike last night. We're hoping that the contractors come back with a better offer over the weekend so that a strike is avoided, but I'm not holding my breath. I know we'll be fine especially in the short term, although we won't be able to save as much money as I had hoped. I tend to be easily stressed when it comes to money (who isn't, I guess), and although we are far more prepared this year than last, I never feel prepared enough. What would really help is winning the lottery, but now doesn't seem to be the best time to invest in lottery tickets. As my grandmother would say, "Oh Well!"