Skip to main content

The 3D Image

When I was a younger man I had heard about this new thing called 3D Ultrasound imaging.  I thought that this would be a really neat thing to do.  We had our first one of these things yesterday.  Brandi and I were at the perinatologist's office for our regular 2-week checkup.  Brandi's parents had accompanied us there this time.  Ray, my father in law said that he had never seen an ultrasound before.  It was really fun to watch their reactions to the girls' movements as their images showed up on the ultrasound monitors.  All of a sudden the tech changed the type of ultrasound to one of those 3D ones.  Brandi was excited.  She has wanted to do one of these for a while.  I, on the other hand, was sitting on the fence about them.  Even though flat, black-and-white ultrasounds are amazing, they don't show everything and they maintain the integrity of the mystique of pregnancy.  Not so with the 3D.  Wow... they show a lot. 

Here are my current feelings about seeing that level of detail.  I'm not a perinatologist.  I'm an accomplished realist (leaning toward pessimism).  All of the stuff around the baby's face was not explained to me.  It's a melange of random limbs and umbilical chords and who knows what else crammed in a little amniotic sac.  They could only get Baby-B's picture.  Baby-A was being uncooperative (she must take after her mother).  I told everyone that it didn't matter since they are identical twins, they would look alike.  If anything, it looked like something from a Sci-Fi aliens B-movie set.  No, sir, not for me.  I think I prefer the maxim of being blissfully ignorant.

There are some things worth knowing, there are other things where knowledge may not be the most beneficial thing.  On one hand, Brandi loves the 3D pics of the girl, on the other hand, I think I'd rather wait till birth.

Popular posts from this blog

The Smile

In my practice of psychotherapy I'm learning the power of positive psychology.  I've had a notion that many times people forget to smile, especially when they are plagued with depression and/or anxiety.  A few years ago I went through a very painful event that changed my life.  The grief of loss was so profuse that I found myself forgetting to smile.  In response, I decided to take daily pictures of myself smiling.  I was leaning on the old adage of "fake it till you make it."  I certainly did not feel like smiling, but I would make the biggest, cheesiest smile and take a selfie.  It helped me remember that life is only dominated by sadness and grief if we allow it that power.  That statement is a relatively sound Christian thought, too.  God gives us joy in Him if we are born again.  Like Peter stepping out of the boat, we can sometimes lose sight of the joy of Christ when the tempests of life seems overwhelming.  Don't forget to...
Read more

The Blessing

I've always wanted Brandi to be able to stay home and work as she pleases with sign language interpreting.  She interprets for the Deaf that attend our church and it has been a dream of hers to be able to do so as a vocation instead of volunteer.  I can't say that I was quite prepared for the suddenness of her leaving work, but per doctor's suggestion Brandi filed for FMLA and ceased working.  She has stayed at home taking it easy, resting, and trying to eat 3,500 calories a day.  She said that she never thought she would ever come to a place in her life where she would be tired of eating, but she's arrived.  And feeling tired of eating, she's decreased the goal to 3,200 calories.  She's doing pretty good at it.  The thought of having twins, hospital bills, doctor bills, specialist bills, etc was daunting enough with two incomes, but now having just one was a bit overwhelming.  Amid the many prayers that we send to God about the girls, Brandi ha...
Read more

The Chest Pain

Monday was a big day.  We had our second appointment with the perinatologist.  While the initial visit took about 2 and 1/2 hours, this one too about 40 minutes.  They checked on both girls, took measurements, listened to heartbeats, and listened to the umbilical cords.  Both girls checked out just fine.  The doctor pronounced both to be in good health and growing at a good rate.  Brandi also checked out just fine.  We were elated.  To celebrate, we went about a five minute drive up the road to one of our favorite Indian restaurants, Bombay Palace.  Brandi said the girls really liked the Indian food because they were dancing around in her belly.  We had a good time.  About an hour later I was in the E.R. (No, not because of the yummy Indian food). Let me back-track just about 14 hours.... 3:00 am I woke up with a really bad pain behind my left shoulder blade.  I felt as though I had been impaled.  Brandi had to push me t...
Read more