About a week and a half ago at 20 weeks 4 days, we had the anatomy scan- AKA; the BIG ultrasound! Because I'm a terrible person, I have kept you all waiting on the edge of your seats (unless you're my friend on facebook, and you probably are) to learn what we now know.
It's always fun to get to see our baby wiggling around on screen, and I'm a little bummed that we will probably not be having any more ultrasounds from here on out. The nurse-midwives practice evidence based prenatal care, and apparently there isn't convincing evidence that repeated ultrasounds throughout pregnancy benefits mom's or baby's health. The only reason we would have another ultrasound is if they are unable to determine by feel if the baby is head down as I near my due date, in which case they would do a quick in-office scan. Oh well, that will make finally meeting little Lego even more special.
Lego was in a cooperative mood, mostly. The technician was able to get all the pictures and measurements she needed pretty easily, with one exception. She really wanted to get a shot of Lego's left hand while it was open, but every time she started getting the shot lined up Lego would make a fist again. The right hand was no problem, but Lego was teasing us with the left! The tech did finally get a semi decent picture.
The thing with anatomy scans is that they wait until the very last minute to tell you the big news, and they take their time getting there. Kind of like I'm doing now.
The tech started with the heart, which despite taking up most of the chest cavity (normal at this stage) was beating at a healthy rate and showed 4 good looking chambers. She moved on to the head and took measurements of the skull and of different areas of the brain. We learned that Lego is still measuring a little bigger than "normal" but closer to what they would expect than last time, and so my due date shall once again remain unchanged. Lego was also in the breech position, but at 20 weeks that isn't a concern. We had a look at the placenta, which is placed well away from my cervix as it should be. The umbilical cord has the right number of vessels providing my little parasite with all the nutrients it needs to grow big and strong. The stomach was full of fluid, indicating a functioning digestive system as Lego swallows amniotic fluid and then urinates it back out.
We looked at the arms and legs, and hands and feet- all good. We looked at the face, which showed an adorable profile but lacks enough soft tissue to show a cute front view. The good news is that Lego no longer looks like a frog or alien, and now looks definitely human! The less good news is that the face now looks a lot like Skeletor. We were able to see Lego's little mouth opening and closing (drinking?!) and the little tongue go in and out a couple times. Probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my entire life, though I understand I might be slightly biased.
Finally we worked our way down to the goods. The tech said she is 85% sure that Lego is a girl! The other 15%? That covers the hospital's legal butt if come June I deliver a little boy. But she scanned the area from a couple different angles, had me get up to use the bathroom and then took another look, and none of us saw any sign of boy parts.
We got another CD of pictures, this time a lot fewer than before. I am kind of kicking myself now for not asking for more pictures. The techs seem to think people are only interested in recognizable face pictures, but I wish I'd asked that some other other pictures be included as well. I like all the anatomy stuff and think it would be really fun to have pictures of the heart and spine and all that. Oh well. Maybe I will call the hospital and see if I can get another CD, or maybe I will be lazy and forget about it because it's not that big of a deal. I mean, I'm not going to be including ultrasound pictures of my baby's heart in Christmas cards or anything.
It's always fun to get to see our baby wiggling around on screen, and I'm a little bummed that we will probably not be having any more ultrasounds from here on out. The nurse-midwives practice evidence based prenatal care, and apparently there isn't convincing evidence that repeated ultrasounds throughout pregnancy benefits mom's or baby's health. The only reason we would have another ultrasound is if they are unable to determine by feel if the baby is head down as I near my due date, in which case they would do a quick in-office scan. Oh well, that will make finally meeting little Lego even more special.
Lego was in a cooperative mood, mostly. The technician was able to get all the pictures and measurements she needed pretty easily, with one exception. She really wanted to get a shot of Lego's left hand while it was open, but every time she started getting the shot lined up Lego would make a fist again. The right hand was no problem, but Lego was teasing us with the left! The tech did finally get a semi decent picture.
The thing with anatomy scans is that they wait until the very last minute to tell you the big news, and they take their time getting there. Kind of like I'm doing now.
The tech started with the heart, which despite taking up most of the chest cavity (normal at this stage) was beating at a healthy rate and showed 4 good looking chambers. She moved on to the head and took measurements of the skull and of different areas of the brain. We learned that Lego is still measuring a little bigger than "normal" but closer to what they would expect than last time, and so my due date shall once again remain unchanged. Lego was also in the breech position, but at 20 weeks that isn't a concern. We had a look at the placenta, which is placed well away from my cervix as it should be. The umbilical cord has the right number of vessels providing my little parasite with all the nutrients it needs to grow big and strong. The stomach was full of fluid, indicating a functioning digestive system as Lego swallows amniotic fluid and then urinates it back out.
We looked at the arms and legs, and hands and feet- all good. We looked at the face, which showed an adorable profile but lacks enough soft tissue to show a cute front view. The good news is that Lego no longer looks like a frog or alien, and now looks definitely human! The less good news is that the face now looks a lot like Skeletor. We were able to see Lego's little mouth opening and closing (drinking?!) and the little tongue go in and out a couple times. Probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen in my entire life, though I understand I might be slightly biased.
Finally we worked our way down to the goods. The tech said she is 85% sure that Lego is a girl! The other 15%? That covers the hospital's legal butt if come June I deliver a little boy. But she scanned the area from a couple different angles, had me get up to use the bathroom and then took another look, and none of us saw any sign of boy parts.
We got another CD of pictures, this time a lot fewer than before. I am kind of kicking myself now for not asking for more pictures. The techs seem to think people are only interested in recognizable face pictures, but I wish I'd asked that some other other pictures be included as well. I like all the anatomy stuff and think it would be really fun to have pictures of the heart and spine and all that. Oh well. Maybe I will call the hospital and see if I can get another CD, or maybe I will be lazy and forget about it because it's not that big of a deal. I mean, I'm not going to be including ultrasound pictures of my baby's heart in Christmas cards or anything.
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| Lovely profile |
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| Skeletor Lego |
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| The cooperative hand |
;-)
ReplyDeleteCute profile, and sweet wave!