It's a ........???

As of Tuesday 8/31, I am 18 weeks and 5 days. So today we were off for our ultrasound appointment. The last time we saw our little sweetie, he/she looked like a fuzzy-wuzzy-gummy-bear. So now this was to be the real deal. First of all it will look like a real baby, not a fuzzy spot on the screen. Second we will get to see cool things like fingers, heart, head, tummy, legs, all kinds of movement, etc. Third, and this is the most important (especially to all our family and friends), is to find out what he/she is.

Here's the beginning of the adventure of the day...

So the morning started out with drinking my 24 ounces of water to fill up that bladder. The theory is so they can see the baby better. My theory ....a good laugh for the office staff. A waiting room of women bouncing, cuz they "gotta go", AND let's push our hardest on the mom's tummy to get the "shots" for the ultrasound, and let's go back and forth over the overly full bladder like a teenager practicing parallel parking ....over and over!

Yes, the simple answer would be to go to the restroom as soon as that is over, but you see there was another fun obstacle in my way before my dam was about to break. My ultrasound was at 9am, and I had an appointment with Dr.Hunt at 10am. As some of you know, you have to give a urine sample every time you come in. We were done at 930a with our ultrasound, and our sweet little tech was REALLY taking her time putting all the ultrasound pics together, and do a quick report for the doctor, so I could take it all upstairs for my next appointment. Ahhh, I'm dying here!

We went upstairs for our appointment, and thought they'd take me right back and bring me to my sweet relief, but noooo. Half an our later, Brint couldn't take it and went up and asked if I could just leave a sample, because I REALLY, REALLY had to go. I was even bouncing in my seat. The nurse felt bad, and said I should have spoke up sooner, oh well that's what I get for being polite. Finally the sweetest relief I've ever had in my life, so far. This may have been more than you wanted to know, but it was a fun story anyway.

Back to the best part. So I'm laying on the table in this nice cool room, that has soft mood lighting. She said first she will be looking at the anatomy of the baby, then asked us if we brought a VHS tape to record the ultrasound. Then she asked if we wanted to know the sex of the baby, and we both said a resounding YES!!! She blobbed on warm, yes I said warm, jell and went to work. The first image was a nice sized baby on the screen, and the first thing I saw was a beating heart. Whheeewww!! That was my first concern, next ...onto normal anatomy!

When all was said and done the tech took enough pics that would have stretched across the entire room. We got to see (and all the anatomy is normal and healthy) a spine, along with each vertebrate, a cute round little head, measured her tummy, measured her femur, looked at her stomach, got to see her face (one image that was more skeletal and one that look more like a face, which was cool), her feet and toes, her hands and arms, she measured my placenta (which the baby was using as a pillow), and I asked her what position the baby was laying in. They baby is in a breech position, for the moment. At this point there is plenty of room to move and flip back around.

Ok, so the part you have ALL been waiting for..... what are we having???? She showed us an image, that even I couldn't make out, and she said we are having a GIRL!!! See the pic below. What the tech says is where the arrow points to is a side ways W. It's whiter than the most of the anatomy, I know, I know most of you still can't see it, but it's there.



The next set of pictures are really fun, and my favorite two will be the last two. The next pic is of her little foot. Her toes are on the left, and her little heel is on the right. Click on the pic if you want to see it closer.


The next pic is of her head/face. On the left is the top round part of her head, a little further to the right is her eyes, a little further past her face is her two hands and arms, and a little further is her knees/legs together. Can you see her better now?


This next pic is one of my favorites. In the pic the head is on the right, looking to the left is her two knees almost against her head. If you look a little further you can see her two legs, and they are crossed like an X. Such a little lady already, love it!!


The next pic I call her paparazzi pic. It of her tiny, delicate, little hand saying "Please ...no more pictures." Cute as can be :)


So that's her! I don't think that Brint and I were surprised that she was a girl, we were more excited to see her move and see how much she has grown. Brint said the other day "I love her and I haven't even met her yet.", that just melted my heart, but he is soooo right. We just fell in love with our baby even more. I can already feel that motherly/parental love for her, and can understand how mom's that I see at work fall in love with their babies the moment they see them.

We go back for our next appointment Sept 28th, and we get to have another ultrasound. Because of the the position she is in, legs crossed tight up against her chest, they weren't able to see all of her heart, and where the umbilical cord goes into her belly. The totally reassured me that's it's all because of her position. I asked the girls at work, and a lot of them had the same "issue". The doctor, ultrasound tech, and my friends said "that just means you get to see her again, and get more pics!". Can't wait!!