Excellent Ultrasound!

Today's ultrasound was perfect, in every way:

• I had a different technician, who showed and explained every single image she took during the ultrasound.


• They took me into a different room, with a pretty much brand-new ultrasound machine, which had amazingly clear images.


• The baby cooperated for every single picture/measurement we wanted to take.


• The baby looks perfectly healthy, but he has a bit of a fat belly, so we'll keep an eye on that (likely due to my diabetes). But no worries!

Oh, did you notice I said HE?!

That's right! HE cooperated in every way this time. HE kept showing off the goods! The technician kept saying, "Oh, there's HIS parts again . . . yep, he's still a boy. Yep, he's still a boy!"

If you know ultrasound images, check out the bottom one, and you can't miss the evidence. He was letting it all hang out, this time. :))

By the way, the top image is the baby looking at you; the middle image is a side profile, and the bottom is . . . well, he'll probably hate me for this one day. :))

For a bigger view of the pics, click on:

http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p220/luvthosebooks/23weeks.jpg

Happy Little Heart :))

I went to see Dr. M. today. He's the Fetal Medicine specialist at our local hospital. I went in for the echo-cardiogram that Dr. P had mentioned a long time ago. It ends up that all the echo-cardiogram was, is an ultrasound that focuses on the baby's heart! No big deal there.

Anyway, Dr. M. said that just by looking at the baby's heart for a bit, he was able to rule out 95% of the congenital heart defects out there, and that included all the major ones. So that's good news! :))

Dr. M. said the views of the baby's heart weren't the best, because the baby was not in an optimal position, and kept wiggling around (what else is new!). But he also said he's been doing this long enough to know, by what he saw, that we have a very healthy baby--and a very active one!

And no, we STILL did not get a peek between the baby's legs. He did take a quick look for me, but no luck. The baby had its legs crossed!

***

I have the REPEAT anatomy ultrasound tomorrow, so maybe the baby will cooperate more for us then. But I'm not counting on it--this one is STUBBORN! :)) (Or maybe just shy.)

Belly Picture: 21.5 weeks

Well, it was about this time in my pregnancy with Andrea that I took my first pregnancy picture to show off the belly. So, to be fair, I have to put my insecurities aside and step in front of the camera to get a 5-month belly picture for this baby, too:

I am definitely showing a lot more, a lot earlier in this pregnancy than my first one, but I've heard that's not uncommon. In general, I'm finding my pregnancy is less noticeable to others this time, because I'm not wearing maternity clothes yet (well, except in this picture)--just over-sized clothes. I'm sure when I give in to the maternity clothes in a few weeks, people will realize that I'm not just large, I'm pregnant, too! ;p

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Here's a picture of Andrea posing with my belly and I. I put it in her blog, as well, but I thought it went with the entry here, too.

I think Andrea and her sibling will get a kick out of this picture some day. :))

5 months/20 weeks: Half Way There!

Today is a bit of a milestone in the pregnancy--we're half way there! :))

I went for my 5-month OB visit today, and Dr. P. said everything looks fine. My blood pressure was good; I've only gained 1 pound in the last month; the baby's heart rate was around 160 bpm today.

We will be getting another opportunity to see the baby in a few weeks. Dr. P. said not to worry, that all the info. they got from the last ultrasound said the baby was fine, it's just they weren't able to get all the measurements she wanted, because the baby wouldn't cooperate. So, I get to go for another ultrasound on April 5th.

Dr. Patel thinks the baby is a boy, because it's stubborn and won't cooperate--even when she was trying to measure the heartbeat with the fetal doppler, it kept kicking at the probe, and swimming away, again!

I think it's a girl, because everyone I know who has had a boy says that their boy "let it all hang out" on the ultrasound, and that's so typically male! Plus, I remember Andrea was also an "uncooperative" baby who required about three ultrasounds over a two-week period when I was at the same stage of pregnancy, with her.

Dr. P said she's also still planning on booking the echo-cardiogram with Dr. M. (specialist). I saw Dr. M. a few times when I was pregnant with Andrea, because of our Spina Bifida scare (which, thank goodness, turned out to be nothing). Again, Dr. P. said the baby's heart looked fine on the regular ultrasound, but Dr. M.'s echo-cardiogram is much more specialized and detailed, and that way we will be reassured that the baby has no hidden heart problems.

Oh, and I have definitely felt the baby moving around this week. I think I may have felt movement as early as 14 weeks this time, but this week it's definitely the baby. I usually notice it at night, when I'm relaxing. It's funny, I feel the movement most in the exact same spot I felt it with Andrea--on my lower left-hand side of my belly. These two seem to have a lot in common. :))

It's a . . . BABY!

Well, there you have it. Bud wouldn't cooperate with us today.

I have decided that I am so irritated with Bud, that Bud is now going to be referred to as "it," until such a time as "it" decides to reveal what sex "it" is. I hate calling babies "it," and that's why I want to know the sex, but Bud wouldn't cooperate--so "it," or "the baby," it is!

The good news is that it looks fine. We saw the baby's heart beating. It was also waving its hand, stretching out its legs (although not when we wanted it to!), and opening and closing its mouth. We saw a really clear picture of its footprint. The baby is measuring 18 weeks exactly.

The technician tried, two separate times, to determine the baby's sex--but it kept both legs curled up, right against its bum, even when she tried to jiggle it a bit!

Anyway, here are the ultrasound pictures of the baby:

For a bigger view, click this link: http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4894002 . This picture is labeled, with stuff like: head, hand, spine, shin, thigh, etc.

I'm sorry I sound so bitter just because we didn't find out if it's a boy or a girl. I am TRULY grateful that the baby appears to be healthy and happy in there. :))

OB Appointment: 4 Months

Everything went great at our 16 week appointment with Dr. P. (OB/Gyn).

My weight is good (lost 1 pound); my blood pressure is good; my urine tests were good. Dr. P. had the results from my 12 week ultrasound, and all the measurements were fine there.

It took her a few tries, but she found Bud's heartbeat. It was measuring in the 150s, exactly like it had the night before on the home doppler. And, exactly like the night before, Bud kept whooshing away every time we found the heartbeat for a few seconds! So, I guess it's not just Mom annoying Bud. :))

Bud's Heartbeat :))

Tomorrow we will reach 16 weeks, or 4 months, in the pregnancy. I will have my monthly appointment with Dr. Patel. But I just couldn't wait to hear Bud's heartbeat.

In fact, I still have my heartbeat doppler from when I was pregnant with Andrea. I have been so anxious to check on Bud that I've been trying to check the heartbeat, with my home doppler, since week 12. I hadn't heard anything yet, but I wasn't really worried, because I couldn't hear anything until about 16 and a half weeks with Andrea. Also, I'm 90% sure I've already felt the occasional flutter/twitch for a week or so now.

But tonight, my persistence paid off. Believe me, it was really awkward trying to use the gel-covered doppler with one hand, hold the receiver on my knee, and the digital camera in my other hand! So, the video's not high quality, but I managed to get Bud's heartbeat so you could all hear it for the first time with me! The video is only a few seconds long, because you can hear Bud whoosh away soon after I capture the strongest heartbeat. But who can blame the poor little thing? I really had to jam the doppler into my stomach to find Bud! Bud's probably saying, "Geez, Mom, give me a break!"

Anyway, enjoy . . . :))

http://media.putfile.com/Buds-Heartbeat