profiles of a stubborn baby.

Today was my Nuchal Translucency ultrasound! What a fun experience! Like I said in a previous post - this ultrasound is to measure the thickness of the neck and to check for the presence of a nasal bone. They also take a vial of blood to analyze the "stuff" in it to check for chromosomal abnormalities. So, to do this, my baby has to be on its back with its nose in the air so you can get a nice view of the neck.

And of course, our baby wanted nothing to do with it.

We watched as our little one got in every position but the one we needed. Punkin was on its head, looking straight at the camera, in a ball, flailing around, and being one cute little button! The poor ultrasound technician tried forever - which was fine by us, because we got to see a LOT of our baby!

Initially, I asked the lady if she could make an educated gender guess. She said not really - because sometimes it's wrong, so they urge them not to guess. She said they used to be "really good at it" and had it "down pat." We also couldn't video tape due to legal reasons, which we understand.

So there our little babe was, looking as cute as can be:

Can I just take a moment to point out that my baby has nose holes? And lips just like me? I mean, wow! That is one cute little nose!

So I laid there as we watched our baby flop. She pointed out the fingers, the elbows, the knees, and all the sweet little baby parts. She let us hear the heartbeat - 154bpm [baby was napping at this point]. She wiggled my belly, poked and prodded, and even said, "Come on, Punkin!!"

But nope. Our child is stubborn. Great. ;]

Eventually, after while, she asked me to get up and go drink a coke. I had to drink a full coke - which sounds like a party - but it wasn't. I'd already had some serious morning sickness just one hour prior, so I was feeling pretty yucky. So it was a strain to drink that much coke. We came back in the room and found a pretty wiggly [still stubborn] baby.

They really aren't joking when they say that caffeine affects your baby. Wow!

At this point, I was able to see my baby's butt [or lack of butt - she said our baby's butt is flat, so it must take after dad. HA!!] and I saw its little "frog legs." I made the comment, "Well I don't see anything between the legs..." And she said, "You're right. I don't either. My guess would be girl..." Later, we saw another angle of the genitals, and sure enough, no outdoor plumbing! She said she is pretty certain that it's a girl.

Can you believe it? A GIRL!

(and you hear my family erupt with roars of applause and cheering! The first granddaughter!)

Now, it isn't 100% accurate, but it's pretty easy to see a penis at this stage - if your ultrasound is long and detailed enough - and we sure didn't see anything! Exciting!!! I've always felt like it was a girl. I would also like to point out that I am wrong 100% of the time when it comes to gender predictions - so it's incredibly surprising that I guessed my own baby's gender correctly!

I'm not running out to buy pink dresses or anything - and besides, they don't have fall/winter clothing out right now! And my sister gave us Hudson's bedding, which is gender neutral, so this doesn't really change anything.

Before our baby finally cooperated, Punkin posed nicely so we got many profile shots. Punkin even saluted Daddy! Can you believe it? We already have a military kiddo at heart:

heart rate photo

Our scanner is terrible, so I took photos of 2 of the pictures. Anyhow - our baby's neck fold measured 1.5, and anything under 6 is "good." She showed us a photo of a baby with a large neck fold, and it ended up having a heart condition. Our baby also has a nasal bone, which is interesting to note, since children with Down Syndrome do not have nasal bones. At least, that's what she told me :]


So our appointment went well! I met with the doctor, and everything looks superb. I have to be put on Vitamin D supplements (as do 90% of their patients) since it was cold and wintery when I was tested, so my VD levels were low. Other than that, it's all peachy keen over here!

My next appointment is in 4 weeks!