20w1d

well today was the sonogram appt and overall it went well. being as nervous as i always am, i was nervous for them to get a good look at baby's heart and brain. the sonogram tech came in and began to get the needed measurements and necessary pictures. they did a vaginal scan to check my cervix and then started the regular abdominal stuff. baby was a little move-y but she was pretty much running through the first half of the appt pretty quickly. she was like a pro, but then she seemed to be having a hard time getting the needed measurements. she explained that baby was just curled up, so they had me drink some water and baby was more cooperative in getting the bone measurements. then baby stopped being cooperative again. they had me roll onto my left side, didn't help. had me roll on my right, didn't help. then they asked me to lay on my side for a few minutes and they took a break in hopes that baby would move on her own.

when they came back she was able to get all of the measurements on the bones but there were 2 shots that she was having a hard time getting, one of the baby's nasal bone, and one of her heart. of course i didn't realize they were trying to take a picture of baby's heart at a certain angle, and all i kept thinking was "why do they keep looking at her heart? didn't we see so much of her heart already?". the techs cant say anything so im just kind of going crazy. then she seemed to give up (she was super nice and had probably just exhausted her efforts) and said the doctor would be in in a few minutes to "discuss the results of today's exam" and take another quick peek. fine. they asked if i would be willing to let a student tech get some practice, and of course, in order to see more and more of baby girl, i agreed. she played around for about 15 minutes until the dr came in. the dr came in and let us know that everything was looking good with the baby, but there were 2 shots that the tech hadn't been able to get, one of baby's heart and one of baby's nasal bone. i knew as soon as she said nasal bone that meant down syndrome stuff, and i also knew that my blood test results had come back with the lowest probable risk based on the screening. i also felt like i had seen baby's nose both on previous scans and I thought i had seen it today, but the tech was probably looking at/for something else at the time. long story short, the doctor had a hard time getting these two images also.

she tried for about 15 minutes, had me roll onto both sides, no luck. then i realized that my sugar was low. i had asked lovedove to grab my sugar and my water so i could give that a boost (which clearly tastes terrible but when there is no other option, ill ingest anything). my very experienced dr then asked me if i wanted a CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRY. im assuming it was a pharmaceutical rep that had brought in 2 trays of them (we saw this happen while we were in the waiting room) and of course i said yes! it was fantastic, but didnt calm my nerves much. she tried for a few more minutes to get the 2 desired shots, still no go. they had me get up and go to the bathroom. when i got back from the bathroom the dr tried one more time and tried to reassure me that she wasn't really concerned about anything, it was just a certain angle of a certain shot that they coulnd't get and sometimes babies just don't cooperate. she said that we could stop there, or i could lay on my side for a few more minutes, and have a different tech come in and give it one more shot so that i could leave my now 90 minute sonogram (we went in at 2:30, and at this point I realized it was now 4:00) with a good feeling instead of an anxious one. even though i knew i was being that patient/pregnant lady, i knew i would have been a wreck if they hadn't been able to get what they needed.

luckily for me, a new sonogram tech came in a few minutes later and magically baby was in a perfect position and she was able to get the needed shots within 2 minutes.

i thanked everyone for their patience and effort and felt good walking out. i have my next appt with my dr in a week, and i go in for a fetal echo in 2 weeks. oh and i also have own ekg in a week and a half. so ill be back there 3 times in the next 14 days. i totally dont mind, i love being monitored closely.  so that was my big long halfway there sonogram story. here is the picture of the (confirmed today) stubborn baby girl.

oh and one more thing. the dog. since she's feeling much better and doing much better, and she is back to her old pesky habits. she's back to stealing sofia's stuffed animals and running around the house/chewing on them, amazingly without destroying them. the thing i've realized recently, she mostly goes after the bears. a pink teddy bear that sings the ABC's is her favorite lately, which must be because she ended her major love affair with the mini brown bear in the green frog suit, but she pulls him out occasionally too. i just think thats too funny, my dog loves to chew on bears!