So much has happened this week, but I can't bear to save the best for last...I'm gonna jump right in. I had an ultrasound today! And here's the photo! I couldn't wait to show everyone!
She said the baby is measuring right on at 8 weeks. We could see the heartbeat, which was going strong at 172 BPM. They said that was good. I think that's on the fast side if what I've read is accurate, but I know too fast is better than too slow.
And now I will attempt to explain what everything is without being able to point: the head is at the bottom. It's pretty big at this point compared to the body, and it's supposed to be. The little dark spot on the head is actually an open space where the brain is growing. The little thing sticking out on the left side is an arm. :-) It has arms! It has legs, too, but you can't really see them on this photo. You can see the outline of part of the amnion (the little sac the baby is in). It's the curvy line that starts on the right side of the feet and goes down toward the head. The large black area is the outer gestational sac. The amnion will eventually fill the whole gestational sac. We could see the yolk sac to the left of the baby's feet. It's pretty small compared to the baby now, because the placenta is getting ready to take over nourishment duty. And in the words of Forrest Gump, "That's about all I have to say about that."
I can't even express how relieved I am to see that there is actually a living baby in there! It's the right size, everything looks perfect so far, the heartbeat is great -- it's been hard to believe that I really am pregnant, and of course there is always worry that something will go wrong. Now that we've seen the heartbeat, the chance of miscarriage drops to just 2% from about 20%.
A funny thing that happened at the ultrasound: the tech said she could see my bladder filling up before her very eyes. :-) They made me drink lots of water beforehand.
An annoying thing that happened at the ultrasound: she asked if I have a high tolerance for pain, since I am planning to have a natural birth. I just think it's something women are built to handle. Don't imply that I may not be able to bear the pain. I don't need to hear that.
My amazing, wonderful husband just went to the store to get ice cream and root beer, and then made me a float and brought it to me because I've been wanting one all day! :-)
I want to hurry up and get this thing posted, so I won't go on and on about all of the other stuff that happened this week. Suffice it to say that the DMV has sent me a notice stating that my license will be suspended on the 20th of this month if I don't pay my speeding ticket from two months ago by then. I sent the payment in on time, but the person I talked to at the municipal court said they never received it. I have sent a new payment and I need to call tomorrow to see if they got it. They better have! I am having my original money order tracked, and hopefully I will get a refund for it.
Also, we took my car to get fixed today (the check engine light has been on forever), and I gave them the wrong car key. I'm blaming it on pregnancy brain. So we had to go back after the ultrasound and give them the right one, and then they couldn't fix it anyway. They had to refer us to some muffler place. Ugh.
Ok, more about ultrasounds really quick: I was able to make an appointment to have a FREE ultrasound at Greenville Tech on January 19th to find out the gender. I was hoping to schedule it before Christmas so that we could sort of give ourselves a present, but they were booked already. They can usually tell the gender at 18 weeks or so, and I'll be 23 weeks when we find out. At least if the baby is a little bigger and more developed, there might be less room for error.
I think that's everything for now! I just can't wait for everyone to see the little raspberry (that's about how big it is now)! And no belly shot again this week...still no belly to show. :-) Have a great week!
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