The amnio.

April 13th 2011: 16 weeks pregnant- Dr. Smith recommended that we go to the Advance Medicine Center at Barnes Jewish Hospital as they would better handle the Omphalocele. We get a call from Dr. Smith's office at 9:00 am and they asked if we could arrive at Barnes at 9:45 am. We hop out of bed and drive down to Barnes so that we can get the amnio done asap. Before the doctors did the amnio, the ultrasound tech came in and took a million pictures of Frankie. They wanted to make sure that all his bones measured correctly, that he had all his fingers and toes, that his face, brain, eyes, kidneys, and everything in-between looked normal. Thankfully, it all looked normal. Then came the amnio. Not so much fun. The doctors looked with the ultrasound to find the best place possible to insert the needle for the amnio. Once they found an opening, in he went with the largest needle I have ever seen. Baby Frankie moves.... A LOT. So they were very cautious not to poke the little guy with the needle (thankfully) but it turn, that causes more pain on my part (totally worth it). I closed my eyes, gripped my fists and held on until all was said and done. Next step, wait for results to come in in the next 24 hours..... Talk about a long 24 hours.