Love At First Sight - Ultrasound

Where to start! Most exciting was probably the ultrasound last Wednesday, October 30th. Cameron went to school for about 30 mins, and I just kept Cody home. Justin picked Cameron up from school on his way to Dr. Johnson's office. I saw Arneli, (my Physical Therapist when I was first having my foot problems) in the waiting room. She said she's having a boy, and things are going well, but she will probably have a c/section around March 19th, he's measuring big already! So they call us back to the U/S room, and we met the tech, Lucy. Turns out she owns to Hello Little One 3D business. I told her we have and appointment already for 11/22. She then asked if we wanted to know the gender. I told her no, but Dad does. I told her I was ok if he and the boys looked, but I to warn me because I didn't want to see. Then I asked if she could write the results down and put it in an envelope. She asked if we were having a gender reveal party. I said, no, but I might change my mind. She smirked and said, in the past when she's put results in an envelope, most people don't make it out of the parking lot, before they peek. I assured her I wouldn't peek! As soon as she put the wand on my tummy we saw baby's head. It was moving all around. It even moved it's hand towards it's mouth several times like it was sucking it's thumb! I pretty much cried the whole time. I'm sure I've felt the baby move a few times over the last 2 weeks or so, but nothing consistent. And even the movements I saw on the screen, I wasn't able to feel. Seeing the baby brought such a sense of "realness" and reassurance, and also made me realize how much is going on in there, that I'm still not aware of. She showed us the 4 chamber heart, beating away at 145 bpm. She said it looked just perfect, as did the head circumference, and the spine, the umbilical cord, and Amniotic Fluid Index (AFI). She even gave us a few 3D pictures of the face. Dad and Cameron said it looks like a monkey. When she needed to measure the femur and lumbar spine, she had me look away. I asked if the baby was measuring on par, she said it's measuring 10oz. and technically it would move my due date forward one day. I told her that would be my birthday! She said, "Wouldn't that be special?" All along, I've hoped the baby doesn't come on my birthday, because I want to have my own special day. But as I looked at my precious baby on the screen, I thought, I wouldn't mind if it comes on my birthday. I'm just so happy it's healthy and all is well. She gave out a dozen photos of our little one. She said, "Oh, I'm not stingy with the pictures." After Lucy left I asked, Justin if he thought he knew what the baby was. He said, "Uh, no, not a clue. Besides she moved the thing so fast, anyways." We met her in the hall and she handed ME the magical envelope! Then it was off to the dreaded scale and to have my blood pressure checked. Luckily I've only gained 2 pounds, it could've been worse. I had to sign refusals for the genetic testing because my insurance doesn't cover it unless medically necessary. It's disappointing, because of all my pregnancies, I'm most concerned with this one, because of my age. BUT, the ultrasound was reassuring, so I guess that will have to do. Dr. Johnson reminded me to exercise, and I whined that I've been sick lately. He said I still need to walk. Now that I've started gaining weight, I'm a little more motivated. I even got out and rode my bike the other day. Even in the afternoon, it wasn't too bad. It's so much less humid now, and there was a cool breeze, I enjoyed it. And Justin put air in the tires, I think that helped too. I need to make myself bike on the days I don't have my Yoga/stretch class. I aslo figured out how to adjust the calorie goal on the My Fitness Pal app on my phone. It was set at 1440 cal/day, and that's too low. I reset it for 1600. Which seems low, but I figure I'm probably going to go over some days anyway, so I don't need to set the limit too high. I'm 20 weeks today, November 6th. That means we're half way there! The best part, I've been feeling the baby move everyday, several times a day, (especially at night) since Friday. It's so special and comforting. I can't wait till it's strong enough that Justin and the boys can feel it too. I'm hoping it'll only be another week or so. Justin's parents will be here in 2 weeks, and I'll be sad if they can't feel the baby moving. This will be their only chance to visit before the baby is born.