Week 12 - It's A Baby!

So, we had our first ultrasound on Tuesday, September 30. Jesse and I have been looking forward to this for ten weeks (that’s how long we’ve known I was pregnant). They also used the Doppler wand so we could hear the heart beat!

The instructions before the ultrasound seemed pretty simple. An hour and fifteen minutes before the appointment, I was to go to the bathroom. Then, in the next fifteen minutes, I had to drink 32 ounces of water. That was it… seemed simple. Now, this may be over-sharing, but growing up my parents nicknamed me (among other things) the camel, because I could go long periods without having to stop for a bathroom break. But since the pregnancy, not quite so much… Within fifteen minutes of drinking something, I have to go to the bathroom. So, drinking 32 ounces of water one hour before the appointment resulted in a massive need to pee in the worst way. It actually hurt to move.

Jesse met me at the hospital (where the doctor’s offices are), and when we got there, the technician… wasn’t. And I couldn’t go to the bathroom, because for some reason all the water makes the ultrasound work better or something. They called us in nearly twenty minutes late.

It was all worth it though, because as soon as the technician put the wand on my abdomen, I could see the image of the baby on the screen. It was the most amazing thing, and I completely forgot all about having to go to the bathroom. Jesse and I saw little Zoë or Jackson floating around in my uterus… the technician would press down, and the baby would turn away like it was mooning us (definitely my baby!) or squelch over into another area, all “Hey lady! Why are you poking me! I’m just floating here, doing my thing. Don’t harsh my mellow, man!” The whole reason for the ultrasound now is to do a nuchal translucency test (http://www.babycenter.com/0_nuchal-translucency-screening_118.bc) which measures the fold at the back of the baby’s head and neck… if that measurement is larger than it should be, it is an indicator of Downs Syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities. We’d have to do an amniocenteses to diagnose Downs, but if the nuchal fold is the right size, it indicates that the risk of Downs is very low. The baby needed to roll over onto his/ her back to cooperate, but in true Aries fashion (the baby is due April 11, and there’s a reason the Aries is known as the ram…) the baby didn’t wanna. She’d move the wand, the baby would roll over. But finally the baby cooperated. The pictures are attached. More on those in a minute…

I have to admit, I was kind of glad that the baby was squirming around… it gave us more time to watch that little imp move around, and waggle little hands and feet. We could also see the baby’s heart beating. So. Amazing.

Then we went into the appointment with the doctor, to review the tests from my last appointment. Everything’s good… my blood pressure is great, my weight is on track (I started at 134, and I’m 138.5/ 139), and I haven’t had the least bit of morning sickness. I have had some sensitivity to strong food smells (basil in particular). Also, at the risk of over-sharing yet again… the Boob Fairy has been generous with the women in my family. The Yiddish word for it is zaftig. I started out as a very generous C cup. I’m still in my pre-pregnancy clothes and undergarments, but not for much longer… Poor Jesse – he can’t even “enjoy” them, because they’re so tender and very cold sensitive. I really can’t complain though. I’ve had a very easy time of it so far.

I do have a pronounced “pooch.” I’m not sure if it could be called a bump, and to be honest I’m definitely a little bloated and so can’t really tell fully if it’s the baby or the bloat. But, when I press on my lower abdomen, it’s definitely hard. And after seeing the ultrasound, and knowing that the baby’s moving around in there, I can’t keep my hand off of the “bump.”

Anyway, back to the doctor’s office – I asked if we could hear the heart beat during this appointment, and they got the Doppler wand out, and after a bit of moving around (again, the baby was definitely asserting its independence) we finally were able to find the little squirmer, and hear the woosh-woosh of the baby’s heart. Seriously – they should record that and sell it. I bet it would win a Grammy.

The pictures are attached here. Along with a picture of the Alien from Aliens…

because, seriously – look at that first picture and tell me that H.R. Giger isn’t the father of this child, which is appropriate, because I love Aliens (They mostly come at night. Mostly).

But the rest of the pictures – man! Tell me that’s not the most beautiful fetus ever!!!

I didn’t think it was possible to love this child this much this early. It’s not even an official “child” yet, and already I’m hooked. This child has me wrapped around it’s tiny little finger (which it has already!).

One thing that was definitely too early to tell was the baby’s gender. So, first contest: take your best guess – is the baby a Jackson, or a Zoë? You have eight weeks to decide, but in order to be in the running for the contest you’ll have to get me your answer on or before November 15 in order to be entered in the drawing for the prize to be determined later. We’ll put all of the winning guessers into a hat, and draw a name, and that person will win… something. We’ll also do a contest for length and weight as we get closer to my due date (April 11, 2009). Send me your guess at nikkibenner@gmail.com, with “Baby Gender” in the subject line. A winner will be announced after our 20th week appointment.

The next doctor’s appointment is at 16 weeks, which will be on October 30. While there may be updates between now and then, there definitely will be another update then.