Ultrasound

This is a long one. I wrote down as much as I could remember, not so much for the readers but for our family to look back on in the months and years to come. Thanks for putting up with the novel ;).

My mom took this photo of Rowen and I right before leaving for the ultrasound.
I can't believe how big my boy is!

We had such a great time at our ultrasound. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. The ultrasound tech was super positive and excited about all the great pictures we were getting of the baby. We told her right away that we didn't want to know the gender. Eric made it very clear to her :). She told us that she calls all babies "he" because she doesn't like "it", so we shouldn't read into it (but it was hard not to). She began the scan, showed us a few things quickly then told us to look away so that she could see if the baby was going to make it's gender obvious to her or not. We looked away, she went to that area and within about 5 seconds she said the baby was making it very clear to her so she would have to be careful. So of course, Eric and I think that it must be a boy with his legs spread eagle! Rowen made it very obvious too.

Right after she checked the gender she asked us if Rowen wanted a little brother. We said that he has been pretty consistent with saying things about a baby sister but he calls the baby a he when we talk about the baby or to the baby. She just laughed and said that it seems like most 2 and 3 year old little boys want baby sisters and most 4 and 5 year old little boys want baby brothers. They must figure out around 4 or 5 that a baby brother might be more fun in the long run :).

She continued the scan, showing us all sorts of great things. She kept saying that the baby was in a great position and giving her really good pictures. Baby moved a lot but stayed in about the same position the same time- head on my right side and feet about an inch below my belly button. At about this time she let me go to the bathroom to empty my bladder and then Eric went out to the waiting room to get Grammy and Rowen.

Rowen was bit hesitant in the darkened room at first but as soon as the tech put that gooey stuff on my tummy again he was very interested in what that was and wanted to touch it :). The tech continued the scan again, then showed us some fun stuff- the feet and the profile. Then she said the baby was in the perfect position for 4D so she switched it over and wow! We saw the babies face so clearly. Babies hands were in fists under the chin, moving up and down and around the face. Baby opened and closed its mouth several times. We asked Rowen what he thought the baby was saying? We suggested that maybe baby was singing or saying "hi big brother!". Ro got a kick out of that. At one point Rowen said, "That is a girl baby!". We laughed.

The tech said that they normally don't get very good 4D pics at this gestational age so she was surprised they looked so good. She said we have one of the cutest babies she has seen in a long time! Ha- we thought that was good news and very sweet of her to say (we know... she probably says it to everyone). We had to look away several times to avoid seeing the gender. Our tech was great at giving us plenty of time to look away before moving to that area. Finally our tech said that she was having so much fun looking at our baby that she was going to be late for her next appointment. She ended the scan and gave us some great photos along with the video we had her record.

Eric and I went over to the the next door office to wait for my doctors appointment while Grammy took Rowen home. While sitting in the waiting room and admiring our new photos, our tech came out again and sat down beside me. She said that she didn't realize it was my birthday until we had already left. She wanted to wish me a happy birthday and say again how much fun that scan was for her to do. We thought that was really nice of her.


So here are some photos. Sorry they are so small. I had a hard time scanning them in one at a time. You can click on them to make them bigger.








My doctor's appointment went just as well. My nurse, who I really like, let us listen to the heartbeat on the Doppler even though we had just had an ultrasound. The heartbeat was 153 (Rowen's was in the 160's at this time). That is the best sound when you are pregnant! Then she took my blood pressure which I was nervous about because last time it was a bit high. However, this time it was just right! My doctor came in and I got a chance to ask many questions that I had been writing down over the last few weeks. He took lots of time to chat with us and ease my mind about a few things.

We feel so fortunate and happy right now to have had such a positive anatomy scan. I feel like the next 4 1/2 months are going to fly by so I want to enjoy this amazing time in my life, being pregnant and spending time with my sweet 3 year old boy.