August - Baby Ultra-sound

Last week, we had our main ultra-sound (u/s) appointment. The tech checked out the baby’s fingers and toes and heart valves and a number of other measurements such as the size of the kidneys, thighs, brain, and heart. The tech can’t give any indication if anything is wrong, but at the end of the appointment she said not to expect a call from the doctor since that usually only happens if there is something grossly wrong. This was nice to hear since we couldn’t read her at all during the exam and there were a number of moments she was concentrating really hard. We saw the heartbeat and were told it’s in the normal range at 154 beats per minute and found out the baby is 11 ounces now. Today was our chance to find out the sex of the baby. Up until this weekend, I was really set on not finding out the sex, but as the appointment got closer, I started to think about how nice it would be to know. In the end, we decided to stay surprised until the birth of the baby. It will definitely make choosing a name a little harder, but this way, we’ll have the chance to experience the surprise of finding out the sex of our baby at birth. Plus, we’ll get to play the guessing game for another five months or so.

The data today places the expected due date on 1/13 – originally, Kris and I calculated the date to be 1/11 but our doctor was pretty adamant that the baby would be another week later (1/18). Because she was so certain about something so inexact, I now find this extra funny and look forward to hearing her response at our next appointment. I’m sure she will say the measurement has a margin of error of 1 week (which we know it does)– and that we should keep the 1/18 target due date. Given Owen’s arrival 2 weeks early, Kris and I now know better than to depend on any u/s predicted date as babies come when they are good and ready (but this time we’ll have baby diapers on hand at least a month early so nobody has to run to the store for us while we’re in the hospital)!

In other baby news, I can now feel the baby kicking. This is always a wonderful milestone and helps to make the pregnancy more real and exciting. I’m looking forward to more and more kicks and flips.

Here are a couple of the u/s shots. They are extra- small for some reason - but hopefully you will be able to see the baby's foot and face.