A little bruised after seeing "Dr No Bedside Manner"

Hi everyone!  Here is another shot of our growing baby!  One plus side to be considered "high risk" is that I get more ultrasounds done then the average mother-to-be.  To me, that part is a great thing...I want to see the little one every time I go in...and so far it's worked out that way!  I don't know what I am going to do if further along they pull back on the photos!  

This picture is from the specialist I had to go see last Friday.  Due to the fact I will be 35 when the baby is born, I had to go get the fluid that is at the base of the baby's neck measured.  This test, along with some more blood work, can determine with 90-95% accuracy the chances the child will have Down's Syndrome or a few other genetic defects.  The appointment started smoothly enough with a nice nurse coming in and dimming the lights so we could see the monitor up on the wall more clearly.  She gave me a towel so the gel they use wouldn't get on my clothes...nice touch.  The gel she used was heated....another nice touch!  The last times it has been a little cold, not so fun!  She takes various shots for about 15 minutes, trying to get the baby to move into the position they need it in to get the measurements.  My mom came with me this time and she really enjoyed seeing everything.  When the picture first came up it looked like baby was sucking it's thumb.  We saw both arms and legs and some profile shots.  It was so weird to see it moving around, but not feeling anything yet.  She jiggled my belly a few times to try and get him/her to cooperate, but no luck.  She went to get the doctor, hoping he/she would be in the right place when he came in.  When he arrived, he started off ok...asking how old I was.  I said I would be 35 in 2 weeks, to which he asked "doing anything special?"  So I said, "Yes!  Going to a New Kids on the Block concert."  He just said, "oh."  Guess he wasn't as excited as I was!  He then got the ultrasound going again and also commented the baby wasn't where he wanted it.  He applied A LOT of pressure trying to get it to turn with no luck.  At one point he said "cough."  So I said "I thought only guys had to do that!"  I thought that warranted at least a chuckle, but I got nothing.  Nice.  Then after some heavy sighs on his part, her tells me to turn on my side and he'll be back.  Okey dokey.  He has yet to crack a smile the whole time and speaks in short, abrupt sentences.  Love him so far!  He comes back a few minutes later, looks to see no change, so he tells me to "empty my bladder and undress below the waist" so they can do a vaginal ultrasound.  Thank goodness...after all his poking and prodding I had to PEE!  So I take care of that and assume the position.  The nurse comes back and says what I thought was "I am going to stick my hand beneath the sheet."  But she actually said for ME to put my hand under the sheet!  She had ME insert the ultrasound thing.  I have never had to do it myself!  I took care of it and the doctor came back to look some more.  More heavy sighs.....then "lay down, let's go back to the other way."  Ok Mr Happy!  He then says the baby is a "lazy bugger" (he was British) and finally gets a shot good enough to get the measurement he needs.  YEA!  To get that though, he pressed quite hard on my uterus.  I feel bruised there still.  Nice.  He said the measurement was good and they would have the results for me in a week.  Then he went to take blood.  As you know from previous posts, I sometimes have issues with getting blood drawn.  I mentioned this to him.  He looked at my arm for about 2 seconds before choosing to use the veins on my hand.  Most nurses apologize for doing this because it hurts more, but not my new friend!  He just turned my hand over and said "you'll feel a prick" and went straight for it.  Thanks dude.  

Now I wait to hear from them in the next week to see what they found, but the impression I got was that things look good.  I go back to my normal doctor on the 17th of March for some more blood work, then back to this specialist on April 10th.  I should find out the sex at that visit...YEA!  I can deal with the rough doctor to get that good news!  Hopefully the baby will cooperate that day!