Boy, Oh, Boy!

The ultrasound was AMAZING! I was so excited & nervous before we went in... Most of the ultrasound was in 2D, the usual ultrasound pics, but it was more like a video than the still shots that you usually get. At the end, she then did some 4D pics (again, 3D but with movement). I think they don't focus on the 3D images too much at this point because they are still so 'primitive' looking, but of course we wanted MORE! So the bad part is that because he & I were moving, by the time she would hit the 'print' button, the great shot would be blurred. SO, here's what we got:

(doesn't it look like he has a stuffed toy giraffe or duck something with him in that pic above?!)

BOY:

HAND:
we had some great shots of his hands, including a 3D shot of one by his face! You can't really make it out in this scanned image, though:

3D HAND:

FEET:
they are both right there together, toes to your left. This was one of the first things we saw, so I was thinking, "This kid better spread them before she gets to scanning between his legs!"

3D Back-of-his HEAD:

isn't that crazy looking?! You can see both his ears on the sides of his head.

The funny part:

She wasn't getting a very clear shot between the legs because the cord & sometimes his hand (although that alone might indicate boy-HA!) was down there, so she wouldn't say for the LONGEST time. Then, she finally was showing us the boy parts but said, that could be the cord, though... so I said, "so you're saying there's still a chance!" However, I'm now convinced by the fact that 3 of our pictures say "BOY!!"

The best part:

The physician was WONDERFUL - one of the most reassuring & easy-to-talk-to & genuine physicians I've ever worked with. It is amazing all the things they can see on the tiny (~5 in, ~9 oz baby)! He checked several things for Down's Syndrome which all looked normal, no cleft lip, etc, etc. So, everything looks great, and I am sooo relieved! They said my lab tests for all these things came back negative at the same risk as a 25-year-old, to which I said, "see, Chad? we can have kids for 10 more years!" the labs are specific to the pregnancy, so that really isn't true...I just like to get him all worked up. ;)

The scary part:

We saw this on the in-office ultrasound last week, and I don't know why I tend to keep these things to myself...I'd so much rather have y'all's support & thoughts... Apparently the placenta has implanted low & has developed over the cervix, called "placenta previa". Most of the time it is just low & migrates away from the cervix as the uterus gets larger & larger. So that was something we wanted evaluated on this ultrasound, too. He said it does look like this is the real-deal, so we are going back in 10 weeks to look at it again. What does this mean??? Well, obviously, one could not have a vaginal delivery with a true placenta previa, so women are usually scheduled for a C-section before due date; this was true for me anyway, because of my previous C-section. The MD last week told me to to call her for ANY bleeding; after lots of reading, it could mean that any bleeding could obviously turn into a medical emergency. (Even more reason to be SO glad I'm with a competent physician that I trust.) So if the mere hint of anything resembling blood with this pregnancy already didn't FREAK me out, now it does! So something so severe happening would be rare, and I'm probably more likely to get the 'new flu' but you know how we worry... I could totally be Tina Fey in the movie Baby Mama with the book 101 Things That Can Go Wrong With Your Pregnancy. :) The thing that worries me is that my water broke spontaneously with Cade, so I wonder if that will happen again? My new MD (I need to finish THAT story, too) said she usually schedules repeat C-sections for 1 week prior, but as a Sunday, we would do Monday or Tuesday, September 21 or 22...She said if my water broke before that, I would just go directly to the hospital & have it done then, instead. Gosh, it will be here before we know it!!

So that's the update on the ultrasound. I really am SO excited for a pair of boys. Having sisters is so special, that I can only imagine them having a brother will be the best gift I could give them. OH, and my explanation for taking SOOO long to post...our home computer has died. I was able to revive it long enough to scan & upload my pictures, but it crashed again while I was saving his new webpage, and it again won't come on. I know, go buy a new one already - this has been going on for a while now, & it is something like at least 6 years old!!! so I guess I'll be purchasing a new computer this weekend.