At the last appointment we had a little bean- just a blob on an ultrasound with a wonderfully flickering heart. Yesterday we got to see a little bean that actually looks like a baby.
We saw his face and arm.
Her foot and all five little toes.
And even his little nose.
We saw her brain, the heart and its strong beat, and the perfect little profile.
Fortunately and unfortunately, I wasn't as far along as we originally thought and it was too early for the genetic screening test, so I have to (get to) come back in two weeks for another ultrasound. This is the second time my due date has been pushed back. It shouldn't matter as every extra day means a greater probability I won't have this baby before JP graduates, and apparently our baby was never as far along as we thought so it's really a correction rather than a lengthening of the time I'll be pregnant, but I still find it irritating. And despite two ultrasounds with clear fetal measurements, I still find it hard to believe that s/he was conceived not during the week when we were on vacation and had unprotected sex at least once a day every day, but instead when we came back home and had protected sex every few days. Sure I wasn't supposed to be fertile during the vacation week (I've received three emails from people asking how we made natural family planning work for us for over two years. Um, we didn't. I had the Mirena IUD which I loved and had removed so we could have a baby soonish. Turns out that soonish meant "in two months because we are too lazy to follow effective natural family planning"), and I know condoms aren't 100% effective, but that still seems crazy.
Anyway, apologies to my father and any other readers who prefer the word sex to not be in my blog posts. What matters is that our baby bean looks great and will arrive whenever he decides to arrive. And preferably he or she will wait for her lungs to develop, unlike our delightful but gestationally impatient first child.
It's rather amazing that bean becomes this little person, isn't it?
So frustrating when they monkey with the due date! I found myself staring at Charlie through my whole second pregnancy like "Wow, how does this HAPPEN?" It's crazy!! Glad everything is going well!
ReplyDeleteYay for babies! That still could have been the sex that did the trick-- sperm live for like 5 days, and you could have ovulated at the very end of vacation sex. Which, according to Shettles, would mean GIRL. IDK-- I study the rhetoric of reproduction, not the science :)
ReplyDeleteCool pics! So how many weeks does that make you now, 12?
ReplyDeleteI was going to say the same thing as Sarah. Maybe JP has really strong swimmers (pun intended) which lasted from the vacation until you were fertile. I agree that it is amazing that a little blip/bean on the screen becomes a little person.
ReplyDeleteI love that you switch back and forth from he to she. Do you have any feelings on whether you think the baby is a boy or a girl? Are you and JP going to find out or be surprised? :)
To Sarah and Jen- that was my thought too, but apparently this baby was conceived a good week after that vacation ended, so that would be some serious swimming endurance. But I still think it's possible. The due date is such an estimate anyway, I'm just going expecting it to be anywhere within the month :) (Oh and to answer Anonymous, I went to the appoitnment thinking I was 11 weeks and 3 days, but apparently I am 10 weeks and 4 days.)
ReplyDeleteAs far as the sex, I have a very strong feeling it's a boy, but that could just be because I've always had a vision of my family being made up of 2 boys and then a girl. I was certain Landon was a boy, but once again, it could just have been because of that picture in my head. I also desperately want another boy, so that could be affecting my "gut feeling" as well. Not to say I wouldn't be delighted with a little girl, but if I had to guess or if I got to choose, this baby would be boy #2.
I'm jealous. I only get one damn ultrasound at 20 weeks because my crappy student insurance blows chunks.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to remain anonymous for the mo because we haven't announced, but I'm only a week behind you! And a regular reader/law student, though you may not recognize me. Yay for second pregnancies! I'm finding this one easier - are you? How do they compare so far?
Congratulations! So exciting to see baby 2.0's first picture.
ReplyDeleteHave you told (more) people at work yet? I'd really like to hear how the conversation goes and how you handle work while planning for maternity leave.
so exciting!! I love when they actually start looking like little people! The doctor told me when we conceived with Jacob but I know for a fact her calculations were wrong. Everyone is just so different that it's hard to be accurate.
ReplyDeleteahh! I love ultrasound pictures! LL- is it as exciting the second time as it was the first time around?
that is one great looking bean, friend! have i mentioned lately how happy i am for you?
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