Ultrasound at 19 weeks, 2 days

Ultrasound day! It actually seems like we spent a LOT of time with the ultrasound tech today, and it seemed like she took a million images, however, I'm noticing we didn't get nearly the variety of perspectives on this set. No spine pictures (I always think those are so cool), no arm close ups... and my favorite 3d/4d pic we have in print, but not on the CD. So I'll have to scan that eventually. This is a 3/4 face view. You can see the eyes, nose, lips... a little bit of a hand, some of the spine and the abdomen.

Here's the front face view, with a hand over one eye. Part of the way into the ultrasound, the baby rolled over and snuggled his/her face in between her/his hands and wouldn't let us take a look. So these are the 3d/4d digital images we have... skinny little legs!

As for the important part of the ultrasound... all anatomy signs are looking good. They saw what they were hoping to see. Brain parts, spine parts, heart parts, abdominal parts. But no, we decided not to ask to see the boy or girl parts. We're thrilled with a healthy baby!

Heartbeat during the ultrasound was about 160, which was faster than it had been, but seemed a little slower when we met with the doctor later. All the measurements were showing right on track with a 6/11 or 6/12 due date. The baby was average, average, average... which is exactly where they want the baby to be.

Interestingly, this time, the placenta is attached to the anterior (front) wall, which means that while I will feel the baby's kicks, punches and somersaults; Ray probably will not until the baby is MUCH stronger. That also means that should something hit my abdomen (like Maia's kicking feet on the diaper table), this baby has a little extra cushion than usual in there.

As for me: My blood pressure is continuing to be lower than it usually runs when I'm not pregnant... which seems to be my trend. I've gained more weight than I'd wanted to by this point, but the OB thinks I'm doing well (that's right... tell the hungry lady what she wants to hear...). The headaches, he thinks, are probably more related to an inconsistency with my daily caffeine levels. He tells me I need to dose the same every day. Either none every day, one every day or two every day... he's not worried about my consumption, just the fluctuation. Oh, and more fluids would probably help too.

Next OB visit is the yummy, yummy glucose beverage and some difficult blood drawing (difficult because I'm difficult to draw, not because it's supposed to be a challenge). I will be half-way through this pregnancy in just a few short days! It's going soooooo fast!!!