12-week Photo Shoot

Overall, yesterday's appointment yielded a good report and a very entertaining show. The ultrasound tech, who was absolutely lovely, did her thing with her machine and monitor, but the image was also shown on a flat-screen tv on the wall where we could see it. It was nice to not have to lean around to share her screen, and we saw everything in a large and clear format (well, as clear as ultrasounds can be).

Basically, they look around and make sure everything looks the way it should. They also take some measurements to see whether they are within normal range, or may indicate that further investigation is needed. Finally, they take some blood (via finger prick, not a draw...I'm tired of giving up vials of the blood I've worked so hard to make) and smear it on a card. Apparently, they mail this card to a lab in New York and the blood work coupled with the ultrasound measurements creates a "risk profile." (Our reaction: you just showed us a 3-D image of the baby that is in there and went zooming around it a la The Matrix, but the blood card has to be mailed off? Technology disconnect.) Legally, ultrasound techs are not allowed to give you any diagnostic information that they may see on the screen--you have to wait for a doctor to do this (so, mom, ignore the following). But our kind lady said, "I'm not supposed to tell you anything, but this all looks totally fine. You don't need to worry."

We saw a head, and the little heartbeat (169bpm), and a tiny stomach...arms and legs and hands and feet...little fingers, too.

Just chillin'. That is a hand by the face.

These things take a while, as they zoom all around checking things and labeling all your parts. They also take the important measurements 3 times each to make sure they're getting a good read. All of this means that I was being mashed on for about 45 minutes (not painful, but uncomfortable by the end). As the show went on, Baby got more agitated that his/her home was being poked, and started moving around in protest. We saw lots of arm movement, and some full-body extension (picture a tantrumming child throwing its head back and arching its back). BA was in disbelief that I couldn't feel all the movement, as it did look pretty intense. I really couldn't--it's still pretty small--but the tech said it wouldn't be long. 

At one point, she was even able to get a head-on view (i.e., from the front/above), so we saw the whole face and a little mouth opening and closing. Screaming at us already? 

This one's not as clear, but I think I like it best because of the little nose:

Sweet face.

Primarily, it was a major relief to hear that everything looked good as far as they could tell. After that, it was really just fun to see the little peanut in there squirming around and doing things, looking much more baby-like. As I said, I can't feel any movement yet, and am not really showing, so it definitely made things more real for both of us to see Baby in there, doing his or her thing (dance moves and clapping, mostly). 

And for those who are wondering, she did look for gender clues, but there were none to be found. So we will all just have to wait and wager for a while longer.