Mother's Day Came Early for Me

Today we had our 20-week ultrasound and appointment.  This was the one I was equally excited and nervous about.  You see, after the bleeding scare, we had a visit with the doctor to talk things over.  She suggested we opt for the round of blood tests that look for abnormalities.  We were originally going to skip this, since no matter what the results were, we would have kept the baby anyway, but she made a great point that it would enable us to secure a 12-week ultrasound scan that insurance otherwise wouldn't cover.  Naturally, we jumped at the chance to see the baby earlier as additional proof that things were OK despite the bleeding.  Today was the day we were to not only get our second - and last, as long as everything continues to progress well - ultrasound, but also the results from the multiple blood tests.

When you are carrying a baby, it's impossible not to worry and wonder if things are going well.  I try not to dwell on the things I can't change or control, but this is our baby! You can imagine my mind occasionally goes to "What If" Land.  But...today, we not only got to see Chickpea again, we also got a perfect report card for all of the tests - the results honestly couldn't have been any better.  WHEW!  I was practically walking on air on the way out, thinking to myself that this was the best possible Mother's Day gift anyone could ever ask for.

That, and these pictures of our wriggling, stubborn Chickpea (it took them a LONG time to get pictures of the face, and when the baby finally moved in place, the little one wouldn't stop moving!):

Profile 1 (head to left, looking up)

Profile 2 (look at the little arm up over the side of the head...at least I think it's the arm!?)

FOOT! Nom nom.

My personal favorite - side profile of a little hiney (to the right) with a curled-up frog leg!

  Thigh/Leg/Foot

This is of the face from straight-on.  Does anyone else think this looks a little like the button-eyed kids in Coraline? Hee!  We saw the baby in this position waving it's arms in the air like s/he just didn't care, too, and it was quite hilarious!  So far we know that Chickpea is very active, stubborn, and a comedian - who said you can't learn about your baby from ultrasounds? ;o)

The baby was measured at just over 14 ounces and 10 inches long.  Now we know why my belly popped so much in the last month.  Grow, baby, GROW!  20 weeks down, 20 (give or take) to go.  Also, they moved our due date up one day from September 23 to September 22!  My dad will be happy to know this, because he called that as our delivery day using the lunar calendar (a trick my grandma used that led to an uncanny record of correct birthday guesses).

And speaking of my dad, it's his birthday tomorrow!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, daddio!  We all love you so much -- Chickpea says s/he can't wait to meet you! (((HUGS)))

P.S.: One last thing...I know I'm rambling but I'm clearly on a high from having seen our sweet baby today.  When we walked into the scan room, they asked if we would be finding out the gender. We said no, and later were told that only about 10% of people these days don't want to find out if their baby is a boy or girl.  I was shocked!  C'mon, people...whatever happened to the element of surprise?!