Ultrasound results
We had our ultrasound today, and we now know with certainty that there's only one baby in there, and ...
We also know that it's a girl! My crazy work psychic person kept telling me that it was a boy, so I'm happy to prove her wrong. And we wanted a girl, if we had to want something over the other.
We are thrilled, though I would've loved to have two. Our OB suspected twins, but she was wrong.
She spent the entire 40 minutes curled up in a ball sucking on or holding her toes, so the tech couldn't get all of his measurements and we may have to go back. But he was as certain as he can be that she's a girl. She measures at exactly 19 weeks (which is good, as we measure it at 18 weeks 6 days), and her spine and fingers and toes and four-chambered heart and stomach and tummy and long bones of the arms and legs and her head and brain and knees and elbows were all visible and all there where they are supposed to be. We even saw the appropriate parts of her brain, which I can't remember the specifics of, but it all looked good. Her umbilical cord was there where it's supposed to be, and the placenta is well positioned, too. So everything to do with the baby is right on target and normal, from what the tech could see.
A radiologist will review the ultrasound and submit a report to our OB, and we'll get the results from her in two weeks. But the tech thought it all looked just fine.
She had a heart rate of 160bpm which is absolutely average and normal. But nothing we did (and he had me walk around a bit trying to dislodge her from her fetal position) made her stretch out for more measurements.
At one point we saw up her nose, and into her little gaping mouth, and we saw her tongue in there. It's amazing! Watching my husband watch the baby was as much fun as watching the baby - he was spellbound, laughed when she did something cute or unexpected, and was quite proud of her unwillingness to cooperate. We both agreed that while she's a girl, she won't be a girlie-girl if we can help it. It was nice to see, as he's been a bit reluctant to bond, so far.
So it's to be a Baby Girl, appearing right on schedule sometime around December 9th.
It is vastly reassuring to see the baby on camera, to hear that she's perfectly normal, and to know that we won't have to figure out how to afford daycare for twins! So my complications remain a mystery, as twins wasn't the answer, but so long as the baby's healthy and wiggly and button-nosed, it's all good.
I did drink the requested 1L of water, and when our appointment started slightly late I was invited to take a plastic cup from the water cooler, pee just enough to fill the cup, and come back - this allowed me to not suffer painfully from having to pee. However, there was a lot of pushing and prodding on my bladder area, which is still sore 5 hours later. I did get to walk around and use the washroom after 30 minutes - then the tech kept trying to get the angle he needed for the last 10 minutes. We only got 3 pictures (they routinely give you 12) - one of her leg, including toes and knees, one of her profile, in the typical fashion, and one of her looking head-on into the camera. In this picture, she's all skull and looks rather like Predator to our untrained eye.
We also know that it's a girl! My crazy work psychic person kept telling me that it was a boy, so I'm happy to prove her wrong. And we wanted a girl, if we had to want something over the other.
We are thrilled, though I would've loved to have two. Our OB suspected twins, but she was wrong.
She spent the entire 40 minutes curled up in a ball sucking on or holding her toes, so the tech couldn't get all of his measurements and we may have to go back. But he was as certain as he can be that she's a girl. She measures at exactly 19 weeks (which is good, as we measure it at 18 weeks 6 days), and her spine and fingers and toes and four-chambered heart and stomach and tummy and long bones of the arms and legs and her head and brain and knees and elbows were all visible and all there where they are supposed to be. We even saw the appropriate parts of her brain, which I can't remember the specifics of, but it all looked good. Her umbilical cord was there where it's supposed to be, and the placenta is well positioned, too. So everything to do with the baby is right on target and normal, from what the tech could see.
A radiologist will review the ultrasound and submit a report to our OB, and we'll get the results from her in two weeks. But the tech thought it all looked just fine.
She had a heart rate of 160bpm which is absolutely average and normal. But nothing we did (and he had me walk around a bit trying to dislodge her from her fetal position) made her stretch out for more measurements.
At one point we saw up her nose, and into her little gaping mouth, and we saw her tongue in there. It's amazing! Watching my husband watch the baby was as much fun as watching the baby - he was spellbound, laughed when she did something cute or unexpected, and was quite proud of her unwillingness to cooperate. We both agreed that while she's a girl, she won't be a girlie-girl if we can help it. It was nice to see, as he's been a bit reluctant to bond, so far.
So it's to be a Baby Girl, appearing right on schedule sometime around December 9th.
It is vastly reassuring to see the baby on camera, to hear that she's perfectly normal, and to know that we won't have to figure out how to afford daycare for twins! So my complications remain a mystery, as twins wasn't the answer, but so long as the baby's healthy and wiggly and button-nosed, it's all good.
I did drink the requested 1L of water, and when our appointment started slightly late I was invited to take a plastic cup from the water cooler, pee just enough to fill the cup, and come back - this allowed me to not suffer painfully from having to pee. However, there was a lot of pushing and prodding on my bladder area, which is still sore 5 hours later. I did get to walk around and use the washroom after 30 minutes - then the tech kept trying to get the angle he needed for the last 10 minutes. We only got 3 pictures (they routinely give you 12) - one of her leg, including toes and knees, one of her profile, in the typical fashion, and one of her looking head-on into the camera. In this picture, she's all skull and looks rather like Predator to our untrained eye.