The BIG Appointment

Our 20 week appointment was Friday, May 6th at 9 am.  We were both really excited to get to see the baby again since we hadn't had an ultrasound since week 8 (3 months!) and of course to hopefully find out the gender. 

The ultrasound technician asked us first thing whether or not we wanted to find out the gender, and then began looking around at the baby.  The appointment started with measuring the head and looking at the brain, and we could immediately see a little hand waving beside her head, saying Hi to mom and dad!  The baby measured in at 20 weeks and 5 days, exactly the same as our last ultrasound!

The tech continued to take pictures and show us various part of the baby - a shot of the face, zooming in on lips and nose, the heartbeat and other organs.  The baby was essentially sitting in my tummy (but upside down) so we were then able to get a clear confirmation that "it" was in fact a "she"!  The first thing I asked was "Are you sure?" because I've always heard that the majority of mistakes are made when they think a boy is a girl, and the technician assured us that she was sure, and went on to explain in detail why.  I was convinced, surprised, and excited!  Everyone, and really, I mean EVERYONE, has been telling me that they think I am having a boy, for a number of reasons ranging from the fact that I'm not a girly girl to the shape of my belly.

From there the technician measured the arms and legs.  She kept waving one arm the whole time, and her legs were constantly kicking like she was riding a bicycle.  She was slightly stubborn (no idea where she might get that from) and wouldn't move her other arm from being curled up beside her head.  I could see with each kick that she was hitting my insides, so I asked the technician why I couldn't feel that.  It turns out that my placenta has attached to the front of my uterus (closest to the outside of my stomach) rather than being on the back side, which is more common (it's called "anterior placenta").  There is no risk, but just means that there is an extra cushion between the baby and the outside of my stomach, making it harder to feel the movements.  I should start feeling something soon, but it will just be a little more faint than what others feel at the same point in their pregnancy.

It turned out to be a really great thing that she wouldn't move her little arm because we get to have another ultrasound next month!  See, being stubborn pays off :)

Everything looks perfect and she is measuring in a little small, which is a good thing.  We are so excited, and working hard at picking out a name!


Her face - the top of her head is on the right side, the dark spots are her eyes, and then the white lines are her nose...I think it's blurry because she was moving around.

 

Her legs - in the right picture you can see how she was sitting



Her foot - the toes are on the right side



Her sweet little profile - that is her hand waving around at the top above her head