The Ultrasound

What a day! Yesterday we had our 20-week ultrasound, which is the detailed ultrasound when they check out the anatomy, size, and other things, and they can see the gender! Going in, I oddly didn't have a feeling either way, I really wasn't sure if we were having a boy or a girl. But now we know!! I have to finish telling family and close friends, but then I will post it here later.

It was a great day though. We both took a full sick day, since our ultrasound and dr's appt were right in the middle of the day. We stayed up late and woke up late, then went in for our ultrasound. Our ultrasound was scheduled for 10:00 and then our dr's appt was at 11:20 down the street. Well, go figure, the ultrasound didn't happen until 11:10!! They were running reallly late, so we just kept sitting there waiting! It was frustrating, but it wasn't too bad. The whole time we were waiting, the baby was kicking like a maniac. I guess the baby was telling us to hurry up so we could see him!

This is us right before the ultrasound (what are we having???):

Since my internship works with Maternal Fetal Medicine at Hershey Med, I knew both of the ultrasound techs, and I was crossing my fingers that we would get the tech, just because she is really sweet and passionate about what she does. Sure enough, she calls us in for the ultrasound. So I lay down and she puts the jelly on my belly :) You know, they keep it in a warmer so it's nice and warm! So I lay down and she starts moving around, talking us through the entire time. It was amazing to see the baby kicking and rolling around, and then to feel it in my belly at the same time!! What a miracle! So she shows us all the separate pieces of the baby's body...brain, stomach, bladder, heart, kidneys, arms, legs, everything! It was so neat.

Then she says "Do you want to know the gender?" We told her we did, and she showed us the little baby privates we were looking for! We are soo excited!! I looked at Eli, and he looked at me, and I just felt so blessed. We are going to be a mommy and daddy!

Since I am on a medication and have been the whole pregnancy, our one concern was that the baby may have cleft lip or palette due to the risks of the medication (one of the main risks of this particular med). She looked for us, and the baby's lips and mouth appear to be perfectly normal! I am so thankful! She took videos of the baby moving all around and the heart beating like crazy.

At one point, she was trying to see the spine, and the baby wouldn't roll to the right position. She finally said "Mom, could you tell your baby to roll over so we can see the spine?" So I started poking my belly and coaxing the baby to roll over....AND THE BABY DID!! Haha....the tech said that she has only ever seen that one other time. What an obedient child we have already!

The doctor came in afterward and said there are absolutely no concerns at this point,but I do need to get another ultrasound next week just to see the spine since they couldn't see it yesterday. She put all the pictures and videos on a CD for us, and when I got home and tried to open it, it was empty!! I called over there and Jeanie said she would do another for me and have it ready for Monday when I go back for my internship. I can't wait to post it.

After the ultrasound (We know what we are having, and we are thrilled!):

It was an absolutely beautiful day! We went out to lunch at Panera, came home and took Rooney for a hike - what a workout! Then I took a little rest and we spent the rest of the day hanging out outside. It was just an amazing, wonderful, beautiful day! I praise the Lord for all of the amazing things He does in our lives, and especially for this little life growing inside, that will be out with us in the world before we know it!

I think Eli was just soo happy and he was taking all these pictures of me on the beautiful day...Even though they aren't the most flattering pictures, I will post them anyway:

Last but not least, we spent the evening together and watched the movie "Juno." Well, for some strange reason, it made me sob! Hormones, an exciting day, who knows? But it is an excellent movie...

Today it is off to Eli's softball tournament, then we head up to Allentown for college friends' Bruce and Steve's house parties. We can't wait to spend the beautiful day up there with friends! Tomorrow baby Collin gets dedicated.

I will post the pics and videos as soon as I get them from Hershey on Monday....

Until then, keep guessing the gender!