Since my teenage years, I have often dreamed of what it would be like to see my baby move on an ultrasound with my husband by my side. I would lay in bed, imagining the scene with a smile plastered on my face knowing that it would be an incredible feeling.
And then she gave us a real treat. She turned on the 4D ultrasound machine, and we saw Peanut in such a neat way. Usually, 4D photos actually look "strange" to me this early on, but since it is our baby I was not freaked out by it in any way. Neither was David. In fact, we cherish that picture and we both look at it each day. It's the closest we have been to "meeting" our baby so far, and it felt amazing!
I can now say that it was even better than I could have imagined!
The last time David had seen our baby, he/she was just a little "blob" with a flickering heartbeat. Yes, it was exciting, but David had yet to see baby looking like baby (other than the 9 week ultrasound picture that I brought home). To him, it hadn't become fully real yet - until this appointment!
This was our 12 week screen which would check for the probability of Downs Syndrome and other chromosomal issues. Because of this, we were nervous about the appointment. As soon as the ultrasound wand touched my belly though, my worries melted away. Our little baby looked perfect, and seeing the look on David's face as he saw Baby looking like a baby was priceless. Then, Baby started moving and he was shocked. Our little Peanut was turning and twisting every which way. In fact, it took quite awhile to get the measurements needed because of how often Peanut twisted away from the camera. Thankfully, the measurements came back perfectly normal (and now we are waiting on the combination with the blood test results).
After the measurements were done, the sonographer took her time showing us each part of Baby. We got to see arms, legs, feet, and we even took a peek to see the gender (even though it is WAY too early). Nothing is there yet, but that doesn't mean anything ;) We also heard the heartbeat (this was the first time hearing it for David), and found out it was measuring at 161 BPM. Apparently, that's right on target, although I expected it higher since the last appointment it was in the 180s.
She then printed out our picture:
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| Our beautiful baby at 12 weeks 4 days |
And then she gave us a real treat. She turned on the 4D ultrasound machine, and we saw Peanut in such a neat way. Usually, 4D photos actually look "strange" to me this early on, but since it is our baby I was not freaked out by it in any way. Neither was David. In fact, we cherish that picture and we both look at it each day. It's the closest we have been to "meeting" our baby so far, and it felt amazing!
Beautiful photo! Ultrasounds are pretty amazing! They guessed Kaylee's sex correctly at 13 weeks, but she explained that you can't see the actual sex organs. Regardless of your baby's sex there probably WAS something there since boys and girl's early sex organs look almost the same, but are angled differently. I found this site while pregnant and it is super cool in explaining the development of the sex organs.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.baby2see.com/gender/external_genitals.html
I never got a 4d or even a 3d scan despite having tons of ultrasounds so it is pretty cool you already got one!!
I think the 12 and 20 week ultrasounds are the best, because they measure everything and so really take their time showing you all the little parts and stuff. I loved my 12 week! And baby CK was the same way... she was upside down and the sonographer kept trying to make her move to get the nuchal fold measurement, but she finally had to give up and work with what she had, lol. Our wiggly babies! As for the heart rate, just think of it this way... your heart rate varies at least 30bpm when you are at rest or exercising, and so does your baby's. CK's HB has been all over the charts - from 140 to 170! The first few times it changed so much it kind of made me nervous but she's been perfectly healthy all the way through. She's just quite the little exerciser! I can usually tell when she's sleeping now just based on her heart rate. Also, once you hit about 12 weeks, the heart rate is supposed to slowly decrease through the rest of pregnancy (although so far I've only noticed a very slight decrease in CK's).
ReplyDeleteInhaling, Thank you so much for the website. That's really fascinating! :) It does a great job explaining the sex organs.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised you didn't end up getting one. I was in total shock when she turned the machine on, but I was so very grateful that she did! It was amazing.
Cindy, We do have wiggly little babies!! I'm glad to hear that CK's HB dropped a few times as well, and everything was good. I just expected it to be higher, but I do think that Baby might have been sleeping just based on the movement. It wasn't fast movement, but he/she kept turning this way and that...no real kicking or anything. So, I think I might have a baby who moves in its sleep a lot as well (like CK)!
You make a great point about the difference in heartbeat depending on activity as well. Last time when he/she was in the 180s, Baby was kicking and moving like crazy. And, I'm so glad you enjoyed your 12 week and 20 week. I am so excited for my 20 week now :)
To add on to what Cindy said (on top of the fact that the heart rate is supposed to slow a little between 8-12 weeks) when/if you get NST tests (I am assuming you will) they actually watch for accelerations in the heart rate. The heart rate can be between 130-200. They watch for ~20 minutes and make sure the heart rate jumps above a certain number (can't believe I forgot the number...I did so many of them!)at least 3 times which indicated movement. If baby is sleepy and the number isn't jumping high enough they give you some juice/push on your tummy to wake baby up. Kinda debunks the whole heart rate determines gender wives tale!
DeleteThat's so awesome! I can only imagine how excited David must have been! I was fortunate enough to make it to all of our appointments, and it amazed me more and more each time. Our last ultrasound was at 10 weeks. Should be a huge difference from then and now. I'm so incredibly happy for you that you'll get to experience being pregnant!!! It was one of my concerns for Monica. I know how she had always dreamed of having several children and wanted to be pregnant so bad. It's something every woman should get the opportunity to experience! So happy for you guys! Your baby looks gorgeous! :)
ReplyDeleteHey cyster!! Ultrasound pic looks great :). Heartbeat goes all over depending if they are sleeping or just relaxing. So don't worry! My guess is you two are having a girl. Just by the first heart beat reading. Did u know if you conceived via IVF you are more likely to have a girl??? We found the data somewhere before we knew we were having a girl. So I say girl based on those two factors :). Glad everything is going well!!
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