18 Weeks and the "Big" Ultrasound

We are at 18 weeks today, and my belly has really "popped" over the last week or so. Regular clothes that I was wearing last week won't even come close to zippering this week! We went to the lake this past weekend, and I packed not realizing this. When we got there, I tried to change into a pair of pants I was sure would fit, only to discover they didn't even come close!

Weight: Still at +10 pounds since getting pregnant. That was what I was at last week, too, but hopefully this baby is just growing in fits and starts, and next week I'll be up more.

We had our "big" ultrasound yesterday. On the way there, we saw a big rainbow. When we got there, we only had to wait a few seconds before the very pregnant ultrasound tech called us in. She spent some time going over everything with us: cervix, placenta, and baby. When she reviewed the baby's parts, she pointed out the kidneys, stomach, brain, heart, arms, legs, and spine, among other things. It was really cool to see everything, because there was so much detail. It was particularly cool to watch the heart beating.

T. told me later that he really had no idea what they were going to be doing during the appointment. He said he was glad that he had not known the level of detail the ultrasound was going to get into or what they were looking for before we got to the appointment, because he would've been really nervous about them finding something wrong. Sometimes I forget that I'm reading a lot more than he is, and I don't always remember to fill him in. It's also funny--I was really stressed about the NT scan and the CVS, but I was totally calm about the ultrasound.

After the ultrasound tech went over everything, she printed out a million photos for us, which I thought was really cool of her. We got some good ones where you can really see the baby's arms, which I will post soon. The doctor came in then, but it had really started to rain quite hard outside, and it was sort of hard to hear her over the rain hitting the air conditioner. She said she needed to move quickly through the ultrasound, because they lose power during every storm! Sure enough, the power started to flicker while she was going back through the ultrasound. But, great news in the end: the baby's growth looks great, the baby looks great, and she doesn't think there is any difficulty with any sort of neural tube problem, which was the one thing we couldn't test for with the CVS. So, a terrific outcome!

When we went to leave the office, it was pouring absolute buckets. We were only parked about 20 feet from the door, but it was raining so hard we knew we were going to get soaked. We tried to wait it out, but it wasn't letting up at all, so we finally made a mad dash for it. I was wearing a silk skirt, and got completely soaked in that short run! T. was in a cotton t-shirt and shorts, and he was totally drenched by the time he helped me into the car and then went around to get in himself. It was pretty funny. We treated ourselves to a nice breakfast at our favorite breakfast place after, to celebrate the great results.