Today is 20w2d.
My sister and brother-in-law came to visit for a couple of nights (just left this morning), which makes me incredibly happy. When we were living in Chicagoland, my parents and two of my sisters also lived in Chicagoland. I was seeing family ALL THE TIME, which is a very good thing. I'm ridiculously family-oriented like that. Now that we've moved to Iowa, I'm five hours away from my parents and those two sisters. But I'm only two and a half hours from my other sister. Which, as it turns out, is not all that far. Close enough for impromptu Sunday evening to Tuesday morning visits, for no particular reason.
Last night, my sister wanted to take a picture of me - proof that I have a belly and actually look pregnant. It was really hot and humid, and so my face is all red and sweaty, and the heat made everything on my body swell up. So I'm pretty convinced that the belly is somewhat exaggerated here (even though Matt says it isn't...which...well...yikes! 20 weeks and I'm this big already?)
And then today was a momentous morning: our 20 week ultrasound! It is our one big, regular ultrasound this whole pregnancy. I feel plenty lucky to have already had three super-early ultrasounds (monitoring ultrasounds per my RE through week 7), but this one was (obviously) totally different. It was long, thorough, and the tech was able to talk a lot and show me what she was seeing and measuring. Matt got to be there with me, too.
The first highlight was the immediate first shot that she showed us: the full view of this ACTUAL BABY that is hanging out in my belly. Head, belly, legs, arms, the whole deal.
Another highlight was seeing that tiny heart just beating away. It made everything feel so incredibly real. There's not only something hanging out in my belly, but it is a living, breathing (well, sort of) person in there. And then there was the moment I felt something jump and she showed me that the baby had just flipped over. I learned that, at least for this morning, baby's hanging out with its head up near my belly button and feet down by my bladder. I learned that my placenta is across the top of my uterus. We saw the spine, and the cord, and the head and brain and heart, and arms and legs and fingers and toes, and noses and nostrils and lips and belly. And then there was the moment when she caught little hedgehog's legs just kicking away.
We want to keep things a surprise, so we told her at the start that we didn't want to know the gender. She turned the screen away while she was looking at views which would reveal the gender, and made the comment that when couples want to know the gender, babies tend to get really modest, and when couples don't want to know the gender, babies tend to let everything just hang out. And in that moment, it dawned on me that, while it is a surprise to me, this lovely lady taking care of us now TOTALLY knows whether we have a boy or girl...and then it dawned on me that this baby actually, truly, has a gender, and for some reason, that made my heart race a little. This is a person. No longer is it blob-shaped. No longer is it a wish or a dream or a hope. It is a baby. And it has a gender. And it will have a personality and its own thoughts and emotions and dreams. Whoa.
According to her measurements (and within margin of error), she told us that baby weighs 15oz, so just shy of a pound. And is measuring 21 weeks, not 20w2d, so a little ahead (which is far easier to make peace with than measuring behind). I've been functioning on an 11/24 due date; this ultrasound would put me at an 11/19 due date, but that five day swing is well within the acceptable one-week margin of error. And no baby comes on its due date anyway. :)
At the end, she tried to get us a nice profile shot, except that baby was being shy, and covered its head with its arms, and refused to pull them down. Which was actually pretty endearing.
Yup. It's hard, after this, not to be totally smitten.
So, without further ado, here's a picture of our little hedgehog, complete with arm thrown up against the forehead in dramatic "fainting-lady" pose:
And, for good measure, little baby feet:
I think hedgehog is mad about being poked and prodded and chased around by the ultrasound tech. He/she has been feisty all afternoon! Oh well...it's fun to feel the tumbles. I've only just started feeling movement over the last week, and not consistently, so I smile every time I feel something!
Looking ahead, I have a regular OB appointment in just a week, and the ultrasound tech said it was likely my doctor would call me in the next day or so to go over initial ultrasound results. It's nice to be in so much contact. Helps the anxiety. Seeing the heartbeat and seeing little hedgehog kicking around also helps with the anxiety. ;) We are halfway there, plus a couple days. Closer to the end than to the beginning!
My sister and brother-in-law came to visit for a couple of nights (just left this morning), which makes me incredibly happy. When we were living in Chicagoland, my parents and two of my sisters also lived in Chicagoland. I was seeing family ALL THE TIME, which is a very good thing. I'm ridiculously family-oriented like that. Now that we've moved to Iowa, I'm five hours away from my parents and those two sisters. But I'm only two and a half hours from my other sister. Which, as it turns out, is not all that far. Close enough for impromptu Sunday evening to Tuesday morning visits, for no particular reason.
Last night, my sister wanted to take a picture of me - proof that I have a belly and actually look pregnant. It was really hot and humid, and so my face is all red and sweaty, and the heat made everything on my body swell up. So I'm pretty convinced that the belly is somewhat exaggerated here (even though Matt says it isn't...which...well...yikes! 20 weeks and I'm this big already?)
And then today was a momentous morning: our 20 week ultrasound! It is our one big, regular ultrasound this whole pregnancy. I feel plenty lucky to have already had three super-early ultrasounds (monitoring ultrasounds per my RE through week 7), but this one was (obviously) totally different. It was long, thorough, and the tech was able to talk a lot and show me what she was seeing and measuring. Matt got to be there with me, too.
The first highlight was the immediate first shot that she showed us: the full view of this ACTUAL BABY that is hanging out in my belly. Head, belly, legs, arms, the whole deal.
Another highlight was seeing that tiny heart just beating away. It made everything feel so incredibly real. There's not only something hanging out in my belly, but it is a living, breathing (well, sort of) person in there. And then there was the moment I felt something jump and she showed me that the baby had just flipped over. I learned that, at least for this morning, baby's hanging out with its head up near my belly button and feet down by my bladder. I learned that my placenta is across the top of my uterus. We saw the spine, and the cord, and the head and brain and heart, and arms and legs and fingers and toes, and noses and nostrils and lips and belly. And then there was the moment when she caught little hedgehog's legs just kicking away.
We want to keep things a surprise, so we told her at the start that we didn't want to know the gender. She turned the screen away while she was looking at views which would reveal the gender, and made the comment that when couples want to know the gender, babies tend to get really modest, and when couples don't want to know the gender, babies tend to let everything just hang out. And in that moment, it dawned on me that, while it is a surprise to me, this lovely lady taking care of us now TOTALLY knows whether we have a boy or girl...and then it dawned on me that this baby actually, truly, has a gender, and for some reason, that made my heart race a little. This is a person. No longer is it blob-shaped. No longer is it a wish or a dream or a hope. It is a baby. And it has a gender. And it will have a personality and its own thoughts and emotions and dreams. Whoa.
According to her measurements (and within margin of error), she told us that baby weighs 15oz, so just shy of a pound. And is measuring 21 weeks, not 20w2d, so a little ahead (which is far easier to make peace with than measuring behind). I've been functioning on an 11/24 due date; this ultrasound would put me at an 11/19 due date, but that five day swing is well within the acceptable one-week margin of error. And no baby comes on its due date anyway. :)
At the end, she tried to get us a nice profile shot, except that baby was being shy, and covered its head with its arms, and refused to pull them down. Which was actually pretty endearing.
Yup. It's hard, after this, not to be totally smitten.
So, without further ado, here's a picture of our little hedgehog, complete with arm thrown up against the forehead in dramatic "fainting-lady" pose:
And, for good measure, little baby feet:
I think hedgehog is mad about being poked and prodded and chased around by the ultrasound tech. He/she has been feisty all afternoon! Oh well...it's fun to feel the tumbles. I've only just started feeling movement over the last week, and not consistently, so I smile every time I feel something!
Looking ahead, I have a regular OB appointment in just a week, and the ultrasound tech said it was likely my doctor would call me in the next day or so to go over initial ultrasound results. It's nice to be in so much contact. Helps the anxiety. Seeing the heartbeat and seeing little hedgehog kicking around also helps with the anxiety. ;) We are halfway there, plus a couple days. Closer to the end than to the beginning!
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