Fifth Ultrasound (Waking a Sleeping Baby)

Today we went in for our fifth ultrasound and final appointment (for real this time!) with Dr G. This was my "peace of mind" appointment to hold us over until we see the OB later this month. I still get nervous before we see the baby each time, and we continue to be amazed each time we leave the office with smiles and wiping away happy tears.

Our baby is still growing and doing great! In fact, he or she was almost too large to get a good picture on this particular ultrasound screen. Dr G says that the new OB's office will start doing abdominal ones and we should be able to see better for where we are at this stage. When he first located the baby on the screen today, we immediately saw the heartbeat but the baby wasn't moving around. We were a little disappointed after all of the movement we got to see two weeks ago. The doc did all of his measurements and then said he would try to "stir things up." He pressed down on my stomach and the baby bounced but was still asleep. After the doctor pressed my stomach a second time the baby woke up and moved around quite a bit. I told Dr G that he had made the baby mad, and he said, "That's what happens when you poke a sleeping baby!" It was so cute, but it really looked like he or she was not happy to be bothered during a nap! (Chuck says the baby must be a late sleeper like me, but I say it must be a deep sleeper like him!) :)

I have uploaded the new ultrasound pic from today, at 12 weeks 5 days. Baby's heart rate was 170 bpm. Remember, today's image is not very clear. That was because it's getting too big for Dr G's machine, and also because this time the picture is a view of the baby's front rather than the profile like last time. You won't be able to see as much detail, but I wanted to add it anyway for those who would like to see. Also, I will add the two video clips that Chuck was able to take with my digital camera! On the first one, you'll hear baby's heartbeat while the doctor measures it. The second video is where the doc wakes the baby up and you'll see it moving around. I hope you enjoy seeing the videos. I think I may watch them a few times a day for the next couple of weeks!

You can find the new (and older) images at this link or at the link in the sidebar: Ultrasound Pics

This week my husband's siblings are both on spring break from their jobs as teachers. His brother and his wife and our 11-month-old nephew spent the day with us yesterday from out of state, and his sister came from Houston and stayed the night with us. She was able to accompany us to today's appointment and really enjoyed being able to experience her first ultrasound! It has been a nice week here and it was great to have plenty to do as our appointment day approached.

We are still overwhelmed and touched by the prayers of our family and friends as we go through these weeks and months of waiting. Today we walked over to share the news with our neighbor, with whom I had just (tearfully) shared our story around Christmas of last year. She was so happy and said she couldn't wait to tell her church family as they had been praying for us these past few months. We are just as grateful for the prayers of people we don't even know! They (and you!) have all been carrying us through and we are so, so thankful.

Next appointment: March 29!