It’s always so much clearer on the ultrasound machine, as there’s a sort of continuity of the image that you don’t get with stills.  You can’t see her eyes in this one like you could on the screen, and you of course can’t see the movement of her mouth.  Someday technology will give us video, I’m certain.  That day is not today.

Another face shot.  Today we looked into her growth, as well.  She has a largeish head, I guess.  That could mean she’s a little further along than we thought, or perhaps just that she has a large melon.  We double-verified she’s a she, and were presented with unmistakable evidence that she is in fact a she-beastie. No pictures of that because, well, a girl has to have her dignity.

A random foot shot, pointing skyward.  I liked this ultrasound tech better than the one we had last time.  She’s more personable, and Jolene worked with her in the past as well.

Surgery

Jolene has had a complication in the pregnancy.  Nothing to do with the baby, really, but side effects that are common when a baby is there.  Her gall bladder has a stone, and she will be having surgery 4 weeks after birth.  Not a huge deal, but definitely very scary.  They’re going to do it laparoscopically, which is the way to go.   There’s no great emergency at this time – it’s not infected or anything, but it’s something that needs to be fixed.

This week the fetus is as large as a turnip.  The baby site obsession with the produce section continues.  The eyes are sensitive to light, so the baby now knows mom stays up too late every night.  The cartilidge is turning to bone, though still flexible.

The Ultrasound

The nervousness for me started about 3:00.  I tried to take a nap to settle down, but it didn’t really work;  I could not nap.  All we have seen or heard so far is the heartbeat that once.  I tend to think about the worst case scenario, and was just thinking ‘what if’?  Jolene seemed not nervous at all.

Madalyn got home and asked if we were going to see the baby.  I had previously told them about the first ultrasound.  “Not without your mother,” I responded.  Eventually Jolene got home and we left.  Ben was on a field trip to Lansing and couldn’t make it.

By the time we hit the road, I was a wreck.  What if?

We got to the hospital and found the radiology department.  Dropped off our form and nearly went straight back to the ultrasound room where a former coworker of Jolene’s started the examination.

Within moments the machine was working and showing pictures like these.

Once I saw the baby jumping around I felt a huge rush of relief wash over me.  Not only does it seem ok, it seems like it might be a future Olympic gymnast!  These pictures are hard to tell what’s what.  In motion it was much easier to see things like the facial features.

My favorite part happened when we zoomed in on the hand:

The baby, swear to god, waved at us.

It’s not very chubby right now – the form is very skeletal in nature. We got to see the heart beating, and hear it again.  The baby was looked at from all different angles.

The Big Question

I know, you’re thinking “Is it a boy?  Is it a girl?”.  I am proud to announce that….

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it is either a boy, or a girl!  We couldn’t tell from today’s examination the gender.  The technician zoomed into the baby’s bottom and we looked for quite a while.  The 15 minute ultrasound turned into a 30 minute one.  In the end, we think it might be a girl, but are unsure as yet.