The Littlest George is 9 ounces and has a heart that beats 146 times a minute – all in the "mid-range of normal" for an mid-18-weeker.
In the above picture you might be able to see his or her little fist just above the nose... Hunter's theory is that it's a Cooper gesture of rebellion against the sonogram technician's pushing around. I choose to believe it's a celebration for the second bowl of Cheerios I ate for breakfast.
People, the sonogram was amazing. The technician was less than enthusiastic about the brilliance of the moment, but I got over my impulse to thump her as soon as the baby's heart appeared.
It's the size of the cap on the end of a pen. On screen it looked like a sea creature, swooshing furiously in deep black waters. But I knew what it was immediately, even without sound, and I had my traditional sobbing in relief that I hadn't done anything to kill the baby since the last appointment. Intellectually, I know the baby is fine. But hearing and seeing the heartbeat every four weeks floods me with so much emotion that I bawl. Every time.
Hunter chuckled, wiped my tears and handed me a tissue. I cried more because I love him so.
For about 45 minutes, we watched as the tech took pictures and identified all the major structures. (No word yet on whether the sinuses are unbelievably messed up.) After about 30 minutes, the tech wasn't able to turn the baby enough to examine the spine. She tipped the chair back so my legs were above my heart. On screen, after a few seconds, we watched the baby tumble toward my rib cage.
We turned our heads while she looked for the sexual organs, but The Littlest George is on board with the surprise and didn't reveal a thing.
The baby moved the entire time – putting his or her hands up, rubbing an eye, kicking legs and turning around. It's remarkable that all that is going on without my being aware of it, and now I'm more ready than ever to feel the baby move.
I'm sure I'll cry then, too.
3 comments:
Kathleen left out one important detail:
There's only one baby in there. We looked to make sure. Believe me, given the family history, we looked!
I predict that it's a girl! Sophia's heart rate was always between 140 and 160.
Is it really an alien, or is that a joke? Because that would be really cool.
Post a Comment