A week or two ago Chantelle and I headed off after our weekly Weigh-less weigh-in session to see our selected obstetrics and gynaecology specialist Dr J. La Grange at her consulting rooms near the Mediclinic Vergelegen hospital in Somerset West for the big 13 week NT scan – basically the very big and very scary scan to check for any fetal abnormalities.
This was my first time meeting Dr. La Grange (who is probably just a little older than Chantelle and myself) and I have to say, I was mightily impressed with her, both in terms of her personality and professionalism. Definitely a good choice that Chantelle has made, and even more pleasingly, someone who Chantelle immediately felt at ease with from the very first moment that she met her!
Unlike the first time when we went through this big scan with little Jessica and Dr. Sonja Mulder, this scan went perfectly smoothly, the machine doing its job without any hiccups and our little baby playing perfectly along, showing off all of the little limbs, fingers and toes. We heard the furious little heart beat and marveled at the cute little pointed nose staring back at us, and even got the photographic evidence to prove it! :)
All in all, it went very well, the doctor is happy with Chantelle and the progress of the prenancy (the due date has again been confirmed 23 January 2013), and even more pleasingly, a couple of days later we got the phone call to tell us that everything is fine, and there is only a very, very low percentage chance of the baby having Down Syndrome, meaning we can all pretty much breathe a big sigh of relief.
I found it kind of cute how the doctor referred to Chantelle as being a BMI patient (euphemisms are always amusing aren’t they?), and based on that alone we have been referred to Kingsbury hospital in Constantia for the next big scan, the 23 week scan, because of their superior ultrasound equipment – basically because thanks to the nasty pregnancy experience last time around, my favourite high risk pregnancy patient needs to be handled with kid gloves through and through! :)
Funnily enough, Kingsbury also happens to be my sister’s hospital of choice – she’s also due late January next year, a week before us I believe! (Shame, January is going to be a busy month of riding up and down for Mom and Pops!).
Anyway, so all is well with baby Lotter No. 2, Chantelle is still doing well (thus far she’s only had a single day or so of Morning Sickness to deal with), and we’re happily plodding along towards the next milestone on our pregnancy roadmap.
Good stuff! :)
(Also, just worth mentioning, but it was seriously good timing that SARS gave us back some money as quickly as what they did. The specialist consultation as well as the immediate blood work handled by PathCare – seriously, I don’t know how Chantelle didn’t faint with all those vials of blood extracted from her! – came with a bill totalling just under R2,400 – certainly not pocket change in other words! Ouchie, I’ve clearly forgotten just how expensive having a baby can be!)
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention. Although we can’t be 100% sure just yet, it looks like Jessica will be getting a little sister come January next year…