It's a GIRL for sure!

We had an ultrasound today and the doctor was able to confirm that we do have a baby girl on the way. We were very excited to find out of course. But more importantly, the baby girl looks healthy and perfect. She's measuring right on target and 5 lbs 6 oz. Measuring by ultrasound isn't an exact science of course and I've read that weight guesstimates can be off by as much as a pound. But given the measurements from today she's in the 52nd percentile for weight. But we already knew she was perfect. She was squishing her face into my placenta when we were trying to get a good picture of her face but we did see her heart beating and her little hands. She looked great. My amniotic fluid levels also looked good. She is also head down and getting ready to go.

Her positioning was the purpose of the ultrasound today. Our midwife was pretty certain that she felt her head down at our appointment yesterday but they usually do an ultrasound to be sure. It's much more difficult to deliver a baby breech so being head down is important, especially with our birth plan. Now hopefully she'll stay that way.

As I mentioned we had an appointment with one of the midwives yesterday. The baby is doing great. Her heartbeat was in the 140s and everything else seemed to be fine. She's moving all of the time so that's no problem. She doesn't like when I lean forward when I'm sitting. She'd prefer I recline so she has more space. I'm feeling much more restricted in my lung and bladder capacity. I'm looking forward to her "dropping" or engaging in the next few weeks so I can breathe better but I'm not looking forward to the added pressure that will put on my bladder. I've also had mild heartburn that should ease up with the added space as well.

Not much else to report from the visit. I've set my last day at work. I will go out with a bang on Tax Day, April 15th. That will give me two weeks before my midwife-given due date of April 30th. Remember that I still think my due date is April 25th. Not that any of these dates matter all that much since everything is just an estimate. Babies are on their own schedule. Right now I'm still hoping that the baby will stay put until at least May 4th when the new hospital opens so I can enjoy my private room and plasma TV. I may change my mind as I get closer to the 40-week mark. There is a full moon on April 20th so perhaps that will influence baby's arrival? That is one old wives' tale that does appear to be true.

It's a GIRL...Maybe!?!

As it turns out we have a stubborn baby. She was nice an cozy in her little corner and didn't want to move around to show us anything. We got a decent view but the doctor was only about 75% sure she was a girl. So now we have to wait. Perhaps until when she's born to know for sure. So we have to hold off on buying anything pink and frilly that can't be returned. Luckily we weren't really planning on going that route anyway.

The actual purpose of the scan was to make sure she's healthy and growing as she should. The good news is that she is. Everything looks perfect. Her spine look perfect. The doctor measured some of her bones and organs and everything looked good. Her stomach and bladder were nice and full so she's eating a lot. Her heart was pumping and the blood was flowing nicely through each ventricle. We could see all four chambers. Her brain is developing nicely. There's no excess fluid. The umbilical cord developed properly with two arteries and one vein. She weighs 12 oz now and her heart was beating at 159 bpm. And of course, she's beautiful.

For those of you who can't read ultrasounds well. Here's a few landmarks for you (click the picture and it will open bigger in a new window).

Ultrasound #1

So today was a great day for us. It was our 2nd prenatal appointment and our first ultrasound. We met with our midwife, Polly, again first. This time she had a midwifery student with her learning the ropes who was very pregnant herself. We went over general issues and then they brought out the doppler. The doppler is basically a wand (like an ultrasound wand) connected to a speaker. They put some gel on my abdomen and then put the doppler wand on me and looked for the heartbeat. The student was having a little trouble finding it at first but Polly thought she could hear it in the background. At this point my uterus is just starting to peak over the top of my pubic bone so it's a little tricky finding the right spot. Polly took over and found it right away. It was nice and strong and just how it should be. The baby's heart was beating in the 150s per minute; which is right on target. Polly said baby's hearts beat about 120-160 bpm.

I got cleaned up and waited for my turn at the ultrasound. We didn't have to wait long which was nice. We moved into the ultrasound room and started working with an ultrasound tech. Again, more gel and the wand. We saw the baby right away. He was laying on his back on the back of my uterus (so we were both facing forward). He was sucking his thumb (as you can see in the pictures below, the fuzzy blob near his mouth is his hand). He was quite content laying there. The technician was pushing on my abdomen trying to get him to move for a while but he was a bit stubborn. Finally he started moving a little bit so she could take the measurement of the fluid in the back of his neck (the whole reason for the ultrasound). At that point he decided he wanted to move all over the place. We saw him arch his back up several times and stretch one leg up and the other straight down. Unfortunately I can't feel any of this yet but it was neat to watch him moving all around. For the last half of the ultrasound the tech had to chase him around he was moving so much.

At that point a doctor came in to take some more measurements. She double-checked that the technician got a good neck fluid measurement, took some more measurements of the baby from crown to rump, and took a measurement of the baby's nasal bone. If the baby doesn't have a nasal bone, or its very short, this often predicts downs syndrome. Thankfully our baby has a nice little nose just as it should be.

Based on the measurements of the baby taken from crown to rump, his estimated age is 12w6d. According to my midwife (based on my last menstrual period), he is 11w6d. According to MY estimate of his age, he's 12w5d. So it looks like the due date is somewhere between April 24-30th. Since the ultrasound was after my visit with the midwife she may decide to change my due date at the next visit.

You might be wondering why I think my due date is different from the prediction my midwife made. Due dates are calculated based on the first day of your last period assuming that you ovulate on the 14th day of your cycle. This is an average across all women. As the women out there know, we're not all average. In my case, my cycles are shorter (22-24 days) and I believe I ovulate on the 11th day of my cycle. How do I know that? Ovulation can be assumed fairly accurately by taking an oral temperature each morning at the same time when you wake up. Your temperature spikes on the day of ovulation. Other signs can also point even more accurately to the day of ovulation. Many women use this method (called the Fertility Awareness Method) to get pregnant or as a means of preventing pregnancy. This is different from the rhythm method.

Ok, now for the part you've all been waiting for...




Happy Birthday Grandma Sue!