Jen's Pregnancy Blog

On June 19^th, Brian & I went for the “anatomy” ultrasound at the doctor’s office. The radiology tech, Carol, took all kinds of measurements of baby, including head circumference, abdomen circumference, and the length of all the long bones of the body.

During the ultrasound we saw Baby’s heart beating and both sides of the heart were in rhythm with each other. She also looked at Baby’s brain to see if certain structures are present; all of the structures are just where they are supposed to be. We could see that Baby is producing urine, which means the kidneys are working and there are no obstructions. We could see the bones of the face; this can tell you if Baby has Downs’ Syndrome; Baby does not. You can even see if Baby has a cleft lip (although they can’t check for cleft palate if Baby’s lip is not cleft; the fully grown lip is in the way); again, Baby is in the clear.

Once all the measurements were taken, the radiologist told us that Baby’s long bones were measuring just like they would on any other baby, meaning that our baby is probably an average-size child. The final item on the agenda for the ultrasound was finding out whether Baby is a boy or girl. Since Brian had to find out (I couldn’t talk him out of it), then I had to know too. Carol got a great look; Baby is definitely a girl!

Now that the ultrasound was over, Carol went to get Dr. B. He confirmed that Baby is definitely an average-sized girl. And everything is going just as it should be. You know it’s a good day when the doc comes in grinning from ear to ear!

A couple of notes about how I’m doing: All of the routine tests and measurements they do on me went just fine. No problems with blood sugar, liver, kidneys or blood pressure. And I had gained another pound in two weeks, taking me from 75 to 76 pounds. Now, understand, I began the pregnancy at 78 pounds, so I still have not yet gained back all that I lost during the first trimester. But as long as I continue the trend of gaining weight (and I’m not just eating junk!), they seem to be happy. In fact, Dr. B said at the end of the appointment that I’m doing better than he thought I would be to this point! So, that either means his expectations were too low or I’m doing really great. Either way, everybody’s happy!