.jpg)
We went to our morphological ultrasound appointment very excited this morning. We couldn't wait to see our little girl again (and Eric really wanted some confirmation on the gender after a couple of his coworkers shared "Yeah, they said ours was a girl at the first ultrasound, but we had a boy!" stories.)
As we entered the room and I laid back and exposed my ever-growing belly, it occurred to me that this was the appointment where we learn whether or not all organs are developed properly, the appointment where we get to count fingers and toes, the appointment where we really find out if everything is normal or not. And then a small wave of nervousness crashed over me.
Things were going great and the doctor was talking a lot as he made his measurements and kept telling us what we were looking at when he would zoom way in and we'd get lost. (Hmmm, is that a kidney or the frontal lobe of her brain? Sometimes, it's really hard for the layman to tell.) And then the doctor showed us her heart. He watched it beat, listened to it, zoomed in and studied the chambers. And then he was silent. He went on to try to get several different angles on her heart, each time stopping the video, replaying it in slow motion, and not saying a word. That's when I started getting really nervous and said a quick prayer asking that everything be fine or else to please be granted peace with whatever we were about to find out. By the way Eric kept squeezing my leg, I could tell the silence and detailed study of Z Baby's heart was starting to worry him too.
After several minutes, the doctor moved on without saying a word about her heart and continued checking out other body parts and discussing them. At one point we got a pretty dang firm confirmation that she is a girl with a hiney-on-the-Xerox-machine-like shot. (I didn't think I'd share that one with the general public . . . when she comes across this as an adolescent I think she'll appreciate that! hehe)
A bit later, the doctor went back to looking at her heart again, and I was trying my best to flash back to biology and recall where the heart valves are supposed to be and which way blood is supposed to flow. I was completely straining my neck trying to get the best look possible and figure out what was causing the doctor to spend so much time examining my baby's heart.
Finally, at the end of what seemed like eternity, but was actually only about 20 minutes, he told us everything was perfect. He said everything was right on track and all of her organs and everything else were developed exactly how you want them to be, including her heart. I'm pretty sure Eric and I both let out a huge sigh of relief at that moment.
I guess with all the complications that can exist with a baby's heart, the doctor just wanted to spend a lot of time watching and listening and verifying that it was all normal! But you can be sure the second they handed us the full written report to take back to my OB that I was scanning down quickly to the heart section and making sure!
So, here are her latest glamour shots.
As we entered the room and I laid back and exposed my ever-growing belly, it occurred to me that this was the appointment where we learn whether or not all organs are developed properly, the appointment where we get to count fingers and toes, the appointment where we really find out if everything is normal or not. And then a small wave of nervousness crashed over me.
Things were going great and the doctor was talking a lot as he made his measurements and kept telling us what we were looking at when he would zoom way in and we'd get lost. (Hmmm, is that a kidney or the frontal lobe of her brain? Sometimes, it's really hard for the layman to tell.) And then the doctor showed us her heart. He watched it beat, listened to it, zoomed in and studied the chambers. And then he was silent. He went on to try to get several different angles on her heart, each time stopping the video, replaying it in slow motion, and not saying a word. That's when I started getting really nervous and said a quick prayer asking that everything be fine or else to please be granted peace with whatever we were about to find out. By the way Eric kept squeezing my leg, I could tell the silence and detailed study of Z Baby's heart was starting to worry him too.
After several minutes, the doctor moved on without saying a word about her heart and continued checking out other body parts and discussing them. At one point we got a pretty dang firm confirmation that she is a girl with a hiney-on-the-Xerox-machine-like shot. (I didn't think I'd share that one with the general public . . . when she comes across this as an adolescent I think she'll appreciate that! hehe)
A bit later, the doctor went back to looking at her heart again, and I was trying my best to flash back to biology and recall where the heart valves are supposed to be and which way blood is supposed to flow. I was completely straining my neck trying to get the best look possible and figure out what was causing the doctor to spend so much time examining my baby's heart.
Finally, at the end of what seemed like eternity, but was actually only about 20 minutes, he told us everything was perfect. He said everything was right on track and all of her organs and everything else were developed exactly how you want them to be, including her heart. I'm pretty sure Eric and I both let out a huge sigh of relief at that moment.
I guess with all the complications that can exist with a baby's heart, the doctor just wanted to spend a lot of time watching and listening and verifying that it was all normal! But you can be sure the second they handed us the full written report to take back to my OB that I was scanning down quickly to the heart section and making sure!
So, here are her latest glamour shots.
The facial profile
Looking at the camera (If you look just above and to the left of the yellow arrow, you can make out her two eyes, nose, open mouth, and little round cheeks. This one completely melts my heart, but maybe it's a face only a mother could love right now; I'm a bit too biased to know.)
An adorable little bitty foot (with 5 little bitty toes). We kept trying to count the toes on the other one, but she was holding her other foot and all you could see were fingers!
A very fine looking spinal column
And here is a close up of her (thankfully!) very healthy heart, the four chambers are labeled.In other developments, she is 9.4" long (24 cm) and is estimated to weigh 0.86 pounds (390 gr). It appears that she has been busy practicing her eating skills this Thanksgiving too. Her little belly was full of amniotic fluid, and when I just re-watched the exam (via the DVD they sent home with us) I am pretty sure she had hiccups at one point this morning! She spent a lot of time with her thumb/hand in her mouth today.
We go next week for a final check up with my doctor before heading north for the holidays. (Oh my goodness, are we really leaving for the US next week?!? I have work to do!)
We go next week for a final check up with my doctor before heading north for the holidays. (Oh my goodness, are we really leaving for the US next week?!? I have work to do!)
5 comments:
great ultrasound pics!! This is the coolest ultrasound, because of the detail you can see. With Kevin we even sawhair!! Glad to know Z baby really IS a girl!
Emily,
I confess I was holding my breath with all the suspense the doctor made taking his time looking at the heart! I am glad everything is fine.
I wonder if you guys are going to take advantage of the new non stop American Airlines flight from BH to Miami.
Have a nice trip back home for the holidays.
Ray
Emily, Glad things are going well with Z Baby. She is a cutie :-) Hope you have a great trip up here!
I'll swear she looks just like you! I'm not kidding!
Oh I want to reach out and grab that itty bitty little foot of hers! What a blessing that her heart is perfect; doctors can sometimes be aggrivating, huh?
Can't wait to see y'all!!!!
Post a Comment