ULTRASOUND!!!

Today was the big day!!!! Jacqueline was in my room early, but I was already awake, so I got up and showered, and then got the girls ready. We went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast, which was super yummy, and then it was time to go. We dropped Leah off at my friend Cathy's house to play with her day care kids, and then Jacqueline and I headed to Boulder for my appointment. We waited for about 20 minutes, even though we were only 5 minutes early, but finally we got called back. Our ultrasound tech introduced herself as we were walking back, and I had to giggle.... her name is Tina!!! How funny, and coincidental, is it that Jacqueline calls our baby Tina, and the tech's name is Tina?! Tina was saying that the name isn't very common, and asked where Jacqueline got it. The only thing I have figured out is that Tina is the lady renting our old house with her husband Jeff; I don't know any other ladies named Tina.

Jacqueline was excited at first, and then quickly got bored, because it really isn't the easiest thing to make out something on the screen unless you know what you are looking for. Baby looks great! All measurements were good, and even though I saw some that were measuring big, I didn't see all of them, and Dr. Shimoda said they weren't going to change my date, which I guess is November 8, and not the 5th like I thought.

We got to see all body parts, and Tina was in a great position so Tina (the tech) was able to see everything she needed to see, including the gender (which is concealed in an envelope for later viewing). She got some really good pictures. We brought home 5 - three of the profile, one of the face, and 1 of the feet, because Jacqueline thought they were really neat, after she was able to figure out what they were.
(The pics are a little blurry because I was taking a picture of them with our camera to post.)

Face... Tina is looking at you with an arm up and a hand on the head.

Profile view with feet way over the head. The legs are up and feet are clear to the left pointing down.

It was really cute when she asked to see the ears. Tina said that was a request she'd never gotten before. :) We didn't get to see them though, probably because Tina was busy looking at other things, and also because Jacqueline soon lost interest. We got to hear the heartbeat, which was much clearer than with the doppler the doctor uses, and during the ultrasound it was 139 bpm.

Weight today was 125/126, so I've only gained 5 lbs in 5 weeks. Yay me! And my blood pressure was super low (sorry Nae!) at 98/56. The appointment with Dr. Shimoda was brief, but I feel like I got a lot of questions answered. I asked her about Pitosin, which is supposed to help regulate contractions, because I had it with both of the girls, and it didn't do me any good. She said that with VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) births, they try to avoid that if possible. That made me really excited because this time around I may be able to have normal early labor!!! She did say that there is a small chance (1%) that my scar from the c-section may burst, but she isn't too worried. Also, I will have to have a line for an IV available in case they need it. Baby Tina will need to be monitored the entire time, so possibly not much of a chance for me to get up and walk - I guess I'll have to wait and see.

We also talked about how I have been having comments that I am carrying low. There was nothing in my chart about the sex of the baby, so general word is that carrying position has nothing to do with it. And it is common, with a 2nd or 3rd, etc, pregnancy that baby does just sit lower. As my MIL put it today, "After the first, things just aren't where they were before."

Since Leah was breech, and they didn't know until I was 10 cm dilated, Dr. Shimoda did say that they will do an ultrasound in the final weeks to check position so I don't have another surprise during labor. And then it was time to climb on the table so she could listen to the heartbeat since she didn't get to hear it before, and this time we were up to 150 bpm.

Stay tuned next week (after Monday) to find out the gender of Baby Tina!