Monday, November 13, 2006

Look at me now!

Today was soooo exciting. Arwen and I went to our 20 week ultrasound for a few glimpses of our little peanut. The ultrasound tech was really wonderful, a very sweet woman from Australia named Pippa. She took the time to explain everything she was looking at and what it meant.

The detail of the ultrasound absolutely floored us. We got to see not just the baby's face, hands and feet, but we got to count all ten fingers and all ten toes. We could see the four chambers of the heart pumping blood. We could see the spine, the brain and the other organs. Pippa looked at various markers for Down's Syndrome, Spina Bifida and Cleft Palette, and found that the baby had none. She measured the baby's head, its tummy, the length of its legs, and the amount of amniotic fluid surrounding it. She measured the heartrate and we got to hear it again. Everything appeared normal. All signs point to a healthy baby.

It was amazing how much the baby moved around in the short time we were there. At first its arms were up with its hands behind its head, like it was maxin' and relaxin'. Later its hands were by its side. And just before we left we caught the baby sucking its thumb. Now that was cute!! At one point Pippa was trying to get a close-up of the feet so she could count the toes, and the baby's feet were moving like it was going for a jog.

So the big question. To know or not to know. We had decided to ask the technician to write down the baby's sex on a notecard and seal it in an envelope, so that we could figure out what to do with it later. When we came into the room I explained all of this to Pippa in great detail and she was more than willing to comply. When the moment of truth came, she asked just once whether we were sure we wanted to know. At which point Arwen piped up, "Oh come on honey! Let's just find out now!" What the heck, I said. And it was remarkable how well the baby cooperated. It was as if the baby was sitting on top of a glass table and we were looking up at the parts in question. So we got a crystal clear view, and the tech was highly confident in her assessment.

For the answer to the $64,000 question... you'll just have to stay tuned! We want to wait until we can share the happy news in person with our friends and family while we're in Houston for Thanksgiving and our baby shower. Sorry folks, bear with us. It won't be long!

The last time we saw the peanut it looked, well, like a peanut. Now it's got pretty much all of its "people parts." Just needs to put on a few more pounds so it's ready for the big wide world.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What??? I have to wait??? I can't wait! I must know!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh my goodness! These pictures are so incredibly detailed. It's really awesome!! It's almost like cheating (seeing what it looks like). Speaking of cheating... I can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl!! No, seriously, I can't wait. Just tell us! haha Counting down till the 25th.

Heather Marie said...

I know, I know. It's horrible the way we're dragging this out. But hey, at least we don't have to wait till the end of March to find out, right?!?!

Anonymous said...

awww what a great ultrasound! that one is fun...it's so awesome when you can start to feel the wee one move! pretty soon you'll be looking at your belly and you'll see a foot pop up. I'm bringing a bunch of stuff over to your mom and you're welcome to all that you'd like...most of it was either rarely or never used. the co-sleeper was used for a whopping four hours, and the bassinette was used for...get ready...twenty minutes! I think the only thing we used quite a bit was the boppy pillow, but I washed and changed the case on it, so if you'd like it, that'll save you 40 bucks. you're certainly not obligated to take anything you don't want, but if you haven't figured it out yet, you get ripped pretty hard on baby stuff. ok, enough, I'll tell you the rest when I see you. you look gorgeous, by the way!