"Let there be light"

Amen.

Today mom and I visited the specialist... finally! It feels like I've been waiting years to see him, Dr. Brown and his lovely assistant (ultrasound technician) Heather. They were angels wearing doctors costumes. They took mom and I and treated us like we were special, not incompetent, worthy of their time and valued... before the visit ended I hugged them both- including the med student who was sitting in on my ultrasound.

I awoke this morning well before my 8 o'clock alarm sounded. I read about birth defects and I went for a nice long walk, before the sun was beating on the pavement.

We left for Columbia about 9:00 and arrived in the doctors office at 10:10. After waiting for ab 30 min we were taken to the back... 200 years and 30 minutes... can you imagine how bad my makeup looked by then?

Heather ultrasounded, measured, scaled, explained for 45 minutes... from the top of M's head and all around the arms of legs of her little body. She showed us the kidney (scared us, a little bit) then retrieved the doctor.

He came in looked at baby M for 5 minutes and said, "It's blockage, she'll need surgery". Then, I rolled right off the table directly onto the cement floor, lost consciousness and cried for 48 hours.

Just kidding... I think...

What the doctor had seen ended up not being cysts at all, M has blockage in her right kidney which is preventing it from disposing of liquid properly. The tube that her urine runs through has a "kink" in it. She'll need surgery right after birth in order to fix her tiny bladder problem. We have to find a pediatric urologist and I will be sure to make EVERYONE aware that my baby is even more special than originally thought.

Afterwards, we picked up Matt's gorgeous wedding band... which he picked out himself. Had a light lunch, yogurt and headed to the mall.

Mom and I bought M her first set of dishes from Williams and Sonoma with a matching bib. Matt and I received matching his and her scrappers. Very exciting, mine's pink his blue.

Having this time with my mom has been one of the most amazing blessings to come from all my happenings. I feel closer to her than ever in my life and our relationship has blossomed. It makes me very sad ALREADY to think of leaving her. I feel certain M will feel the pangs of loneliness too as we make our way up the winding road towards Pittsburgh.

M,
Baby girl today when we were watching you in the doctors office you started knawing on your umbilical cord and smacking your lips! It was so amusing, you stuck your tongue out for us as well... oh so ladylike. Getting to meet you will be one of the most exciting moments of my life... that and marrying your daddy. He's wonderful and I have a feeling we'll be falling in love with him over and over for the next 100 years.

I love you so much,
M