16-week ultrasound - baby still doing great!

I had another ultrasound today, and praise God, it went magnificently. (Instead of waiting until 19-20 weeks, I called a different perinatologist to set up a consultation to discuss my bloodwork concerns. Their office wanted me in for another ultrasound at 16 weeks... gee, what a hardship to have to see my sweet baby again so soon!)


During the ultrasound, it was amazing to see the tech pointing out the baby's stomach and bladder and chambers of the heart... I blurted out, "I can't believe my body knew how to make all that." She nodded and said, "All I can say is, it's a miracle," to which I said, "That's right... and it's not so much my body as it is the Designer." She smiled and nodded knowingly, which made me think she's probably a Christian. (That's one of many things I LOVE about the South... people you encounter day to day are more likely than not to be Christians here.)

At one point, the tech was showing me both the arms and hands, and the baby was doing a thumbs-up... the tech even said, "Look, your baby's saying, 'Thumbs up, Mommy!'" How kind of God to have my baby doing that for me, as a tangible little sign that everything's going to be okay! 

Baby didn't seem nearly as active as at the 12-week (with all those trampoline bouncing antics), and I commented to the tech the baby must be sleeping, but she said the baby was more active than it looked on screen, since we were zooming in on various parts of the anatomy at a time rather than seeing the whole baby. She said that although I couldn't tell, she was having to chase the baby down quite a bit (heehee). 


After the ultrasound, the perinatologist sat down and went over everything... today's ultrasound as well as all past test results... and has a great proactive approach, just as I'd hoped, and gave me a few specific recommendations that the other perinatologist never mentioned. I'm so thankful to have found this perinatologist! (He's also an older, probably late-50's-ish man with a corny sense of humor, which I find endearing in a doctor!) I bombarded him with questions (about the baby's size/growth, heart rate, placenta, umbilical cord, etc. etc.) and he answered every single one... and for a lot of them, summarized by saying, "I didn't see a single thing that concerned me... everything at this point looks as good as it possibly could." A-MA-ZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The doctor brought up the fact that my Down's syndrome risk was 1:88 because of my low PAPP-A score, and I almost brushed him aside on that since I honestly don't care about that (I don't think my baby has Down's, but if he or she does, I don't want to know until after the baby is born so that I'll already be hopelessly in love). But, he reassured me that the odds for me are actually much lower (something like 4 out of 1,000, he said?) because of (well, I can't remember why now, but when he explained it, it made sense). I did make it clear that we would not choose to do amnio even if the odds were much worse (not unless it were for a specific reason that could actually help the baby), and he was completely understanding/accepting of that.

BTW, once again, my blood pressure was high at the beginning of the appointment... 140/82. The nurse decided to take it again, after I'd seen the baby... it had dropped to a reasonably normal 120/76! (Funny that seeing my baby is great for my blood pressure and stress levels!! )

They're going to send me a copy of the ultrasound report so I can obsess over every measurement and every detail, but for all the measurements she took (head circumference, belly, etc.), it showed on screen that the baby is still measuring 2-3 days ahead. Again... AMAZING!!!! (Maybe I'll finally start showing a little one of these days!)

I'm just so thankful, so awed, so amazed. On the way home, once again, I cried as I thanked God... I can never thank Him enough for this gift!!