March 21, 2001

Prior to our Amniocentesis, we did a very detailed examination by ultrasound to look for birth defects and be sure it was safe for the amnio.  Everything looked very good with no signs of Downs Syndrome or Spina Bifida.  We also learned that we're having a boy and a girl--we were really excited.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to have the amnio done (one of the sacs wasn't fully fused to the uteran wall), so we had to postpone it for a week.  The good news is that we'll have another set of sonogram pictures in a week.

Although this picture is obviously indecent and will only be brought out to show to his dates in high school, baby "A" is a boy!  The doctor was indiscreet enough to draw an arrow to the naughty bits.

This is another picture of our son.  In it, you can see his face, chest, and arms.  He was just big enough for the doctor to estimate his weight:  5 ounces.

Here's a similarly indiscreet picture of our new daughter.  The white marks are indicative of a girl.  Her "gestational age" was a few days too young for the doctor to estimate her weight, but it should be very close to her brother.

Here's a picture of both kids.  The boy is on the right and the girl on the left.  Foreshadowing sibling strife to come, we watched the boy kick the girl in the head over and over (it went on for some time).  After a few minutes, we checked on them again, and the girl had turned herself around so her feet were facing her brother (she's no dummy).