Half-way mark! (with pictures)

Hi all! Yesterday we got another sneak peak into our baby's little world. Using 2D technology, the sonographer first did a very thorough diagnostic of the baby's body. She checked out the limbs, bone structure and internal organs, talking us through everything that we saw. It was so reassuring to get a thumbs up on everything she inspected. We saw the heart -- all four chambers of it -- beating steadily at 148 bpm. The doctor and the sonographer both told us that the baby is growing well and that everything looked great. They even threw in the word "perfect" a few times, which is great for the egos of these parents-to-be! :-) Seriously though, we are so thankful for the baby's health and that all of the his/her parts are in order and we just pray that everything continues to progress accordingly during the remaining 20 weeks. In 2D, it was very evident that the baby still has a lot of fat to gain; the images made him/her look like a little skeleton! A cute skeleton, but a skeleton nonetheless!

The 4D imaging was a different story entirely! We got to see very detailed images of the baby wiggling around in real time! The printouts we got are basically stills of a very cool video, but they do no justice to what Jeremiah and I actually saw on the monitor. The image to the left is probably the clearest of the bunch. Although s/he looks to be resting in that shot, s/he actually appeared to be waving, saluting and smiling through much of the 4D ultrasound. In one waving shot, it is absolutely amazing at how defined all five fingers are! Jeremiah and I were just in awe as we examined the pictures, trying to determine whose nose that is! (I still say it's his. What do you think?) At one point, the sonographer almost let me in on the baby's little secret (his/her gender), but she has quick reflexes and was able to cut away before I recognized anything! (By the way, Jeremiah knows but is going to try to keep it quiet. Please don't try to squeeze it out of him! I'm sticking to my guns on this surprise.)

Another cool aspect of the ultrasound was being able to check out a pair of seemingly muscular baby legs! I now know why I usually feel little kicks in my lower abdomen -- the baby was floating straight up and down, with his/her head up above my navel, legs stretched out and his/her little (actually they seem quite large) feet dangling and kicking about 10 inches lower! All of this time I've been looking at the stats that give the baby's length from head to rump; I never realized how long the baby is from head to toe! It certainly explains why I am getting so round!

Week 20 Developments

I usually take these stats straight from babyfit.com, but this week I have my own from yesterday's ultrasound! The "fun facts" are still babyfit's.

Baby's Age: 18 weeks
Baby's Size (head to foot): 10 inches
Baby's Weight: 12 ounces
Other fun facts: The baby's eyebrows are now forming. The baby is sleeping and waking much like a newborn at this time. Permanent hair is now growing on the scalp, but even this hair will fall out the second week after birth and will be replaced by thicker hair. To aid in muscle development, the amniotic fluid is supporting the baby's movements. The baby is quite the little gymnast and is getting busy with twists, turns and forward summersaults!

The picture to the right is not as clear as the others (the baby was pretty wiggly), but I just love how the baby seems to be flashing a big smile. Also, s/he seems to really favor that right hand; it got in the way a few times while the tech was trying to look at his/her face. We may have a thumbsucker on our hands, folks!