We had the anatomy scan yesterday. Turns out it was a stroke of genius on my part to schedule it for my birthday. I was too focused on the amazing to mope about getting older. There was no whining, no crying, no holing up under the covers. I was even happy and cheery all day. I'm pretty proud of myself. And no post-birthday-blues today, either. (So far...) But if they strike, I still have cupcakes in the fridge. ;-)
A note about anatomy scans. They are detailed. Super detailed. I thought they'd just wand over my belly, tell me, "Everything looks normal. It's a ____." Not so. The appointment lasted almost an hour, and the technician measured everything from brain and spinal cord to kidneys and heart. Checked all four ventricles in the heart, made sure the kidneys were functioning properly, checked for club feet, cleft palate, Down's Syndrome, made sure the spinal column had enough fluid and was closed... The list goes on and on. She asked up front if we wanted to know the sex, and prepared us before she told us. "Ready for the sex...?" (It sounds weird to me to say it like that, but I think, grammatically speaking, that 'gender' is an identity, while 'sex' is a biological fact.) I have a healthy amount of amniotic fluid, and our baby is perfect. No abnormalities, all ten fingers and all ten toes, and weighing about 11 ounces. Measuring perfectly for just about 20 weeks gestation.
She also checked the placement of the placenta, and where it's attached. I'm happy to report that it is not covering my cervix, which means I am good to go for a non-hospital birth. If it had attached over the cervix (covering it), I'm pretty sure that requires a c-section, and I wouldn't be able to deliver with the midwives. I think that was probably the most important news of the day. I mean, don't get me wrong, we are totally excited to have a perfect baby, but we were prepared for birth defects. Well, as much as you can be, anyway. I mean, we were planning on adopting a special needs child from China, so we've had to think about birth defects already. But I was not prepared for an abnormal placenta placement, especially given that my OB/GYN just kicked me out of her practice. Luckily (and happily) it's not an issue.
We also discovered that our little Butterbean (who is really cantaloupe-sized now) is a wiggler! That baby was moving all over the place! Kicking little legs, opening and closing hands, flipping over... I can't feel any movement yet, but it's only a matter of time. And I predict that the acrobatics will keep me up for many a night before this pregnancy is over. This kid takes straight after Allen - can't hold still! I have a feeling I'm going to lose the baby weight pretty quickly trying to keep up with those two.
So, now the news everyone has been waiting for:
It's a boy!
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