18 Week Ultrasound

On Wednesday, I had the big mid-pregnancy ultrasound to check for growth, development, abnormalities and gender. I was out-voted 5-1 on finding out the gender, and even though I have a certain trump card, I prefer to save that for the naming!

So, David met me at the doctor's office for the big scan and the tech asked me right away if we were finding out the gender. I replied that we were. She asked if I had an idea of what the baby was, and I replied, very confidently, "I know the baby is a girl." I had long suspected/knew the baby was a girl because this pregnancy has been so different from my pregnancies with Jeremiah and Gabriel. I often excused the differences as me being much older now, as me having all the thyroid issues early on, etc., but in my heart of hearts, I knew this baby was a girl. I was so sure the baby was a girl, I started calling her in my  head and in my prayers by a name that we had discussed even though we had not decided upon any name. It was almost as if it were ordained or chosen by God. I was sure the baby was a girl and I was sure of the name before we even decided or knew. I was so sure the baby was girl, that I had a terrifying thought when I was driving to the doctor: "What if the baby is a boy?" Not that boys are terrifying. I love my boys, all my mama's boys, to pieces. They are great. The point was that I was not prepared for this baby to be a boy and I thought I better prepare myself mentally in case I was wrong, but try as I might during that 45 minute drive, all I could think about was a baby girl.

In any case, the tech did a quick peek to see what position the baby was in and said, "I don't usually check for gender first, but now I am dying to know what this baby is since you are so sure."  Well, as soon as she got between the legs and I saw that there were no boy parts, I said, "Hello, (girl's name omitted)." I just said her name as naturally as if that were indeed her name. It just rolled off my tongue. I said that before the tech could say, "There's your girl."

Then, she measured the baby and checked all the organs to see if they were working properly. She was lying down on her tummy in the fetal position, so the tech could not get a view of the left side of her heart. So, after she poked and prodded my tummy for a long time and she did not move, I had to get up and jump up and down to see if she would flip. Fortunately she did. Not only were we able to see her heart then, we were also able to see her face. She looks like Jeremiah. No doubt about it. More importantly, the heart looked good. I will be getting a fetal echo at 22 weeks or so though, just to make sure. Everything checked out well.

I was exactly 18 weeks on Wednesday and the baby measured exactly 18 weeks as well. She weighs a whopping 7 ounces! Her heart beat is 136 beats per minute.

Here are the numbers for posterity:
BPD:  4.03 cm--18 weeks, 2 days
HC:  14.87 cm--18 weeks, 0 days
AC: 12.15 cm--17 weeks, 6 days
FL:  2.55 cm--17 weeks, 5 days

So, she looks very proportionate and all those numbers average out to 18 weeks exactly. We are so thankful for a healthy looking baby! Thanks be to God! Isabelle is excited to have a sister. David is excited to have a Daddy's girl. I am excited to get to decorate a nursery for a girl, after 4 babies!