Ultrasound Video, 20 Weeks

This ultrasound, while exciting because of the big gender reveal, didn't yield much in the way of figuring out what Baby G looks like. He was just squirming too much, and this doctor's ultrasound equipment wasn't as sophisticated as the last doctor's (click here to watch the ultrasound at 13 weeks). But if you're interested, I've embedded a video below for your viewing entertainment. Again, I "narrated" it to try and make it a bit clearer what we're seeing.

Boy, oh, Boy!

By now you have probably heard that we are having a BOY! I must already have this little one pegged, because I KNEW in my bones that it was a boy. And he was not shy about confirming my suspicions, either! We had just started the sonogram, and I was mid-sentence talking to the ultrasound tech when she interrupted me and said "WOW, you are definitely having a boy!" and then kept making jokes about what a proud little boy he was, etc. Photographic evidence is below; see the middle sono pic for the proof!

All in all, we didn't get to see a whole lot of the little babe. The ultrasound tech seemed like she was very to-the-point... nice, but not really one to play around. I asked if she could do the 3D/4D scan, and she said she could but she wasn't going to because it would freak me out to see how skinny my baby looked. Apparently babies look very scrawny until 26-28 weeks. I convinced her to do it for just a second, but the baby was moving SO FAST and OFTEN that it was hard to tell what we were looking at. The tech mentioned how much the baby was moving. So out of the five ultrasounds I have had, four times the technician/doctor has made a comment about how the baby was unusually active. The only time he wasn't bouncing around was before he had arms and legs!

We did get to see two tiny, sweet feet with beautiful toes, the mouth (which looked like Brad's) and the nose, which looks more like Brad's than mine (but really looks like neither of ours, exactly). I know he'll change a lot between now and 37-40 weeks, but it's so fun to feel like I'm peering int a window of who that little boy is!

The baby weighs just under a pound -- exactly what he's supposed to weigh at 20 weeks -- and is as healthy as can be. No signs of any abnormalities (other than possibly hyperactivity -- just kidding :). Placenta is in the best possible place, umbilical cord looks fantastic, brain, kidneys, bones, heart - all ideal. My weight gain is right on track too. I was a little worried at the number I have been seeing on the scale, but the doctor encouraged me and said he wants me to give nutrition classes to his other patients (haha). Obviously, we like Dr. Norwood!

We got a video, which I may try to put online later. It's just that you can't really tell what you're looking at, and the tech kept forgetting to hit "record."

Sadly, this may be the last glimpse we get of Baby G before he enters our lives in the flesh! Unless there's a medical reason to do another one, insurance won't cover it. I'm not sure I can go 20 more weeks without a peek at that little punkin, so I may think about paying out of pocket. But maybe not. Babies are 'spensive.

Now on to the nursery and the registery! EEEEEEEE!

Ultrasound Video, 13 weeks

Well, the news is out! I told my work on Friday, and they reacted better than I could have ever expected. We told some friends over the weekend, and today I had an ultrasound to do standard prenatal screening tests. The doctor thought everything looked good, and we'll know more at the end of the week.

Since Brad wasn't able to be there, the ultrasound tech took a DVD of the whole thing for me. She even did the 4D ultrasound feature for a part of it, which I didn't expect! She just needed to take a small measurement at the back of the baby's head, but Baby G was not cooperating. It worked out GREAT for me, because I ended up with more than 15 minutes of footage of the little guy or gal squirming around for the camera. I edited it to 5:30 minutes, don't worry. The doctor said our baby is "very photogenic," and that you usually don't see images this good at 13 weeks! (Can you tell I'm already a proud mama?!)

Here is a link to the video so you can watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAl-x_3viBk

And here is the embedded video, in case you'd like to play it on the blog:



I narrated it to make what you're seeing a little clearer. I may have gotten some of it a little wrong (like at one point I say the baby is facing backward when I think it's actually facing forward), so don't pay too much attention to what I'm saying. :)

Sonogram, 9 weeks

There's a bad glare right in the middle of this picture from me taking a photo of it with my phone. Sorry...

Bulbous tadpole head is on the right side. Here's another photo showing you what most babies look like at nine weeks gestational age (via BabyCenter):

The sonogram was taken on the day we met the man who will likely deliver the Babe Gaultney, Dr. James Norwood. Super guy, very knowledgeable, fantastic personality and bedside manner. Brad really liked him too. I honestly had just found him online and chose him based on glowing patient reviews. I heard Baylor was a great place to deliver, so I consulted my frenemy Google and made the call! When we arrived at his office, we saw a Christmas card from a Watermark (our church) family that we really admire. Knowing he had delivered their kids made us feel really good.

He and I seem to align on the important-to-me issues (inductions, C-sections, etc.). The absolute ONLY time he is not on call is the weekend, so I'm already having little pep talks with Baby G to make sure not to make his or her debut unless it's Monday through Friday. 

Sonogram, 7 weeks

Gummi bear baby with a halo. Actually, yolk sac is the loop at the top, with the baby just underneath.

I was back for another ultrasound, just a week after the first!

That's pretty unusual. See, the first time I went in, my doctor guessed I was four weeks along. They drew blood, told me to come back in 48 hours for another blood draw, and at that point my hormone levels (HCG in particular) were supposed to double. That's a sign of a healthy early pregnancy.

When the results came in, though, my levels hadn't doubled. In fact, they had only risen about 30 percent. The numbers themselves were VERY GOOD; in fact, one doctor said progesterone and HCG levels were so high, they could be considered twins level. Still, the fact that they hadn't doubled was concerning. I felt like the clinical staff, without saying so directly, was trying to prepare me for a high chance of miscarriage.

I'll stop and say that Google is not your friend in early pregnancy. Not even a little bit. DO NOT GOOGLE. Very reputable websites with solid medical science say that if your levels don't double within 48 hours, the pregnancy is not viable and miscarriage is certain. I pretty much wanted to lock myself in a room until the end of my first trimester.

So they asked me to come back a week later (the earliest they could fit me into the schedule) to check on the baby. I came in, uncharacteristically calm in the face of that kind of situation. It had been a huge exercise in faith and trust in God.

I can't tell you how relieved I was to see the baby -- looking more and more like a baby -- bouncing around on the ultrasound screen. Turns out, the doctor had incorrectly dated my pregnancy, and I was actually six weeks along at the time of my first visit. Around six weeks, the hormone levels start to even out and plateau in many cases, so that's why the numbers didn't double. Crisis averted.

And that's how at seven weeks, I got a cute picture of a babe who looks like a Gummi bear.

Sonogram, 6 weeks

First time I laid eyes on this precious little life.

(Forgive the poor picture quality. I took a photo of the sonogram with my phone.)


The dark area at the center of the image is the gestational sac. Within that area, the loop at the bottom left is the yolk sac (feeds the baby until the placenta is fully formed), and the polka dot to the right of the yolk sac is embryonic Baby G.

I've heard from people who cried happy tears when they first saw their little one like this. It was not emotional at all for me, surprisingly. I was just so shocked that the proof was staring me in the face! I was suddenly a human incubator!