Yesterday I had another ultrasound (standard policy for new patients at Preferred Women's). I didn't expect it to be so much fun!! First of all, I didn't have to drink 5 gallons of water within one hour and then have my bladder poked. In fact I didn't have to drink anything; and they said they would do an external ultrasound. Unlike my first ultrasound, they had a nifty screen on the wall that allowed me to see everything.
Fig Baby is AMAZING. He was sleeping when we first checked in on him, lying on his side with his back to us. (Good baby...you're on mommy's normal sleeping schedule...not waking up until 10...this appointment was at 9:00, so he was probably still in REM sleep!) We had to poke him a little to wake him up, and then he squirmed like he was grumpy about being waked up and was trying to snuggle back in and get comfortable! Finally, he woke up completely and started moving his hands near his face. He couldn't keep them away from his face, in fact. Rubbing his head, putting them in his mouth, just constantly moving. Then the legs started kicking. Tiny little skinny things. (Hmm...he/she probably has Jeff's skinny calves...the one part of him that won't bulk up, unlike my sturdy, thicker calves!) He stretched all the way out for us, and we could see his little rib cage.
The technician pointed out a lot of the features that I honestly couldn't see clearly myself, so I took a lot of it on faith, but some I could see plainly. The spindly blurr near his face she said were fingers. The two lobes of his brain I could see clearly, and his ear was clear in one pic, but facial features were blurry. It just made my day, though, to peek in on his world. It was like calling up a genie-in-a-bottle without knowing what they're doing...sleeping, taking a bath, whatever. How nice to have a little window in on Baby's Life! And what a life...comfy, warm, weightless...
I read something about the FDA limiting the use of ultrasounds to trained professionals only. This is ostensibly to discourage 3-D "keepsake videos" that expose the baby unnecessarily to a (potentially) harmful energy source. At first this seemed like a good idea to me, but what about crisis pregnancy centers? I think ultrasounds are the most effective tool they possess. I don't see how any mother could choose abortion after seeing her baby on an ultrasound. It's so obvious they're little people, even at 3 months.
Anyway. They gave me several pictures of the ultrasound (these are at 11 weeks, 5 days...almost 3 months, for you normal people. The "weeks" thing always annoyed me slightly. So, when the kid is twenty, are they going to be 1,045 weeks old?). They also "officially" confirmed the due date of Sept. 6th. I'll post the pics when Jeff can scan them in for me. :)
