It's a ... boy!

I find it somewhat fitting that even though this post is about three weeks overdue, I'm finally writing it on the three-year anniversary of the day we had our gender ultrasound for Elle and found out we were having a girl.

For this ultrasound, I was eager to find out the gender, but I was extremely (and yes, I know, irrationally) worried that something would be wrong with the baby. Thankfully, everything looked great - I don't think it could have been more perfect. I remember during my ultrasound with Elle I felt ill - my bladder was full, I was extremely anxious and the tech had to dig the wand in to my stomach a lot to try to get good views and/or get Elle to change positions. This time, my bladder was apparently at optimal fullness, I was relaxed once I saw that everything looked good, and the tech only had to dig in to my belly once or twice. I felt like I could enjoy what we were seeing more, and since this is likely my last pregnancy, and I don't know how many other ultrasounds I might have to get to see this baby, I wanted to soak up every minute of it.

We had our ultrasound on a Tuesday morning (February 12) at 9:30. My mom had come down to visit for a few days, so she, Tim, Elle and I packed up and headed out for the ultrasound on the warm, sunny morning. We got there right before the appointment time, and Elle enjoyed climbing on the waiting room chairs and enjoying the view of boats on the water, cars driving on the street, bridges, etc. I wasn't sure if I'd have my normal checkup stuff to do first (blood pressure, weight, pee in a cup, etc.) or the ultrasound, but we got called back within minutes by the ultrasound tech and things got underway.

Elle was concerned when she saw the tech spread the gel on my belly and get the wand out. With the lights out, she seemed worried that I was being hurt, but we assured her that I was OK and encouraged her to watch the video screen where we could all see the baby. The tech started with the head and got a good look and measurement of the head and brain.

As she worked, she asked if we wanted to know the gender, and we told her we did. I added that I hoped the baby would cooperate. Seconds later she slid the wand to the other side of my belly. I realized what we were looking at at almost the exact moment she said, "Well, it's definitely a boy!" Like I did during our ultrasound with Elle, I cried. I had so strongly believed that Elle was a girl, and even more strongly felt that this was a boy, and I knew that Tim really wanted a boy this time, so I guess they were tears of joy on many levels. (Plus - duh, I'm pregnant and cry at almost anything these days, so it really should surprise no one that the tears escaped.) She typed a cute "It's a brother!" message on the screen and printed the screenshot before moving on.

This baby was so calm and cooperative compared to our first ultrasound with Elle. I think my first ultrasound with Elle was done at 18 weeks exactly, and the ultrasound tech had a hard time getting a good look at all four chambers of the heart. (Elle's early signs of stubborness were at work there.) This time, at 18 weeks and 3 days gestation, the tech got a good look at every organ, body part and nook and cranny she needed. The only issue she had was that the baby was curled up like a frog for part of the ultrasound, with his legs all tucked under him. She got him to change positions fairly easily, though.

Technology hasn't changed drastically in the almost three years since we had our ultrasounds with Elle, but I just feel like this baby was practically following instructions to pose. We got good shots of his hand, his spine, his leg, his feet. His cute little profile reminds me so much of one of Elle's newborn photos.

The tech kept up a fairly constant moderation of what we were looking at, and there were times when I asked questions based on our ultrasounds with Elle and my very basic knowledge about some things the anatomy scan can reveal. Tim was holding Elle and didn't hear a lot of her commentary, so I filled him in later. She told me that the skin at the back of the neck was thin - thick skin at the back of the neck is often a marker for Down Syndrome. She told us that the baby's mouth, nose and jaw were well-formed and showed no sign of a cleft palate.

We saw the bladder, stomach and heart. At one point, the tech was focused on his profile, and I hesitantly asked if the baby was breathing. During one of our later ultrasounds with Elle, we saw her breathing and swallowing and opening and closing her mouth, but I think she was at 28 weeks or so around then. The tech looked more closely and said that I was right - the baby was practicing breathing, and actually probably had a case of hiccups. She said that it was unusual to see breathing in an ultrasound so early - normally it's not viewable until much later in the pregnancy.

Although Elle was fairly well-behaved during the ultrasound, she got antsy after the first few minutes. She didn't really seem to understand what she was seeing on the screen and could only be entertained for so long by prompts to "look at your brother's stomach" and "see, there's the baby's heart!" We tried to prepare her for the ultrasound, which I felt was really important that she attend, but I don't think she really got it, and I don't blame her. We gave her a snack after about 15 minutes because she kept mentioning that she wanted to go home and I figured the food would occupy and appease her, and she was content for the remaining 20-25 minutes of the ultrasound.

The tech finished the ultrasound by switching to the 3D view. The baby had his hand up by his face and the cord was crossing his face, too, so we didn't get any great shots, but again the looks we had reminded me of our ultrasound with Elle.

After the ultrasound was over, the tech handed me a long strip of photos. I was shocked at how many images she gave us, but I love it. I think we got almost a dozen. We all went back to the waiting room and waited for me to be called back for my normal appointment stuff. We only had to wait two or three minutes, and then I was weighed and peed while Tim and Elle waited in the doctor's office. We had an extremely quick meeting with Dr. S. - he looked at the ultrasound photos, noting that "Yes, there is definitely no doubt you're having a boy." I asked if the baby was measuring ahead of behind or right on track, and he said all of the measurements looked to be three days either way, so we were right on track. We didn't really have any questions (yay for a boring pregnancy!) and Elle was being shy (refusing to obey my request to "Thank Dr. S. for delivering you!"), so with that, our appointment was over.

We're so happy that we got to see the baby and feel extremely blessed that he looks healthy and perfect in every way. We're excited to bring a little son in to our family :)