March 2004 Update - The First Ultrasound
Welcome to your first official Baby Gaston update. Strangely, there's not really much to tell, except about my appointment today. I'm still feeling pretty good, though I do have good days and bad. The worst it gets is some queasiness, but it usually passes pretty quickly. Every once in a while it will last all day, but that is thankfully rare. Beyond that, I feel great. A little more tired than usual, but none of that legendary extreme fatigue. The very occasional headache, but nothing drastic at all. That is actually a great sign; it means my blood pressure is staying controlled.
I had my second pre-natal appointment today (March 8). I am officially 9 weeks 4 days today. Standard blood pressure and weight check: 130/80 (pretty good for me), and I've officially gained 2.7 pounds. Then off to the exam room we go. No physical check up this time, just talking. The first thing we did was review all the blood work that was run since my last visit. "Everything looks absolutely positively normal." That's what we wanted to hear! For once in my life, I want to be completely average and normal and boring. My blood type is officially O+, so there is no need to worry about Steve's blood type. None of the other tests indicated that he needed to be tested, so he may escape the needle altogether, for which he is very grateful. Then we got to wait for the ultrasound room to become available.
Finally got into the ultrasound room. I got the table, Steve got the cushy recliner. How is that fair? LOL The overhead television was broken, so we all had to crowd around the little monitor. ***TMI (Too Much Information) warning for the following statement: the ultrasound was vaginal, which was a little sure odd, but not bad. Certainly not painful, and no need for a full bladder to push the uterus up out of the pelvis in order to perform an abdominal scan.*** End TMI warning. One of the first things we saw was the fluttering of the baby's heart. So tiny, but it was there and just beating away. I knew to expect it, and I knew what it would look like, but it was still rather a shock. Hey, there's a baby in there! (And yes, just one! Whew.) And rather obligingly, the baby was facing the probe. The face was very clear, all facial features readily identifiable, even to me, but just as my doctor went for the capture, the baby flinched away, so we didn't get that picture. She shifted the probe, so we got the classic "comma shaped baby side view" picture. All of the vertebra bones were visible at one point, as well as the beginnings of the amniotic sac. No well-formed placenta yet, but it should develop over the next few weeks. The probe was then shifted back to the frontal view. Brain hemispheres are developing well, we could see arms, even count fingers on the baby's right hand (all 5). It's just amazing the detail that is already present, at only 9 weeks. (The in-room chart says actual size is about that of a strawberry.) Scans of the ultrasound pictures are available at my webshots album. There are three pictures, each shown twice: once "plain" as the doctor printed them, and again with the baby circled and various features labeled. Enjoy! http://community.webshots.com/album/124028115uRMaGx
So, my official diagnosis: "Everything looks perfect; see you in four weeks." That's what we want to hear. Nothing else to tell, really. We haven't really begun to discuss names. I'm still reviewing nursery themes, but I think I've decided on one. Perhaps I'll announce the final decision in my update next month (after my next appointment, April 4). I can't really think of anything else to say. Just drop me a line if you have any questions; I'd be happy to answer them. Thank you all for sharing in this exciting time with us.
All my love,
Erin (and Steve and Baby)
