Ultrasound Day

In some weird combination of the Thanksgiving to Christmas rush and just everyday life unfolding, my ultrasound day was here before I could blink.  I remember the day we had Kale's ultrasound...it took F.O.R.E.V.E.R. to arrive.  This one seemed to just kind of arrive in a whirlwind of activity.  It probably helps that this one was scheduled two weeks earlier in my preganancy than my ultrasound with Kale. 

For this baby, I got sent to the perinatologist because I am....old.  According to the maternal age charts anyway.  Here is what that really means....because of my age, I am at a more elevated risk of the baby having complications such as Down's Syndrome, etc.  So, my doc sent me to the specialist who performed a more detailed and lengthy ultrasound this morning.  I have no idea how long we watched our baby on the screen, but it was quite a while longer than we ever saw Kale at this stage!  There was not one single thing that concerned the specialist.  We talked about Kale's heart condition and the inability to see that condition from inside the womb.  However, the baby's heart looks perfect for now.  We saw fingers, toes, feet, hands, arms, face, spine, ribs, head, chest...we saw this child from head to toe...twice.  We even saw a really close up view of the beating heart.  Amazing.  Sometimes it was hard to tell if the baby was moving or it was simply the ultrasound wand moving.  I only got tears in my eyes twice through the experience.  Pretty good for a hormonal momma who has been worried just because, well, I worry. 

The baby is healthy, measuring EXACTLY on time (17 weeks, 2 days), and weighs 8 ounces.

This little one already seems to have an attitude.  The doc had to jiggle the wand in my belly to get the baby to cooperate for one measurement...the baby was being stubborn and didn't want to move to a spot that would allow the doc to get a good measurement.  However, the jiggling worked and the baby moved. 

We saw the gender stuff too.  In fact, we saw that portion of the baby twice as well.  The baby wasn't shy about that part.  We aren't revealing the gender to our families until Christmas.  After they know, the world can know. 

Until then, its a guessing game.  Apparently, my father in law is taking bets on the gender, date of delivery, and something else (weight maybe?).  If you want in on that $5 action, let me know...