I’m going to go ahead and admit that seeing her today on the sonogram was a bit better than Christmas morning. I mean, both have their place, but …
I’m still processing what today was like, and probably will have more to say at some point, but first the important stuff:
She’s doing really well. No problems or issues, and our doctor said the entire ultrasound was “excellent,” which is what you want to hear. All of her parts were accounted for, and where they needed to be. She was a bit stubborn – she’s currently camped out in the far back of the womb, to the left, which made taking all of the necessary pictures pretty tough. It also has explained why the left side of my midsection has felt like a war zone. She covered her face with her tiny arms and hands, and by the end had curled herself into, well, the fetal position. I had to turn to the side to try and coax her out of her little huddle. It worked.
I have to say, though? All I kept thinking was how we needed to let her be, and that we were all getting to know each other and I really wanted to see what she’d do, what she needed, and not force her to be what we needed her to be just then.
WHO THE HECK AM I?!
It was the longest I’ve spent looking at my daughter, and it was lovely. I’m with her every day, of course, but I could watch how she moved, and saw her heart beat and work like it was supposed to. Her mouth was moving. I imagine she was saying something along the lines of, “Can you fuckers just let me be? Thanks.” Emo already! At one point, Scott asked the technician to let us listen to her heartbeat just a little bit longer. He later said, “I know that this is no big deal for the technician, but this our first kid!”
By the time we got to her spine – spine! - it dawned on me just how glorious the human body, my body, really is. What a gift this experience is. My body has helped make that spine – spine! – possible. How in the heck? I mean seriously. I can barely heat up a pizza and yet? I helped form a spine. Just by being here.
Wow.
So thrilled you posted our first peek at the little lady! She is so lovely; I can’t stop looking at her. I think I even see her perfect little ears.
Amazing.
Oh, so beautiful. Thank you for this.
How exciting and what a great picture! Have you gotten a doppler yet? They make some fairly inexpensive ones and you can listen to the heartbeat at home. There are some models you can even record the heartbeat on. I remember one of the packages mentioned recording the mother’s heartbeat and then playing it in the nursery to help the baby sleep. It’s a sound they’re used to after all. I’m anxious for my next “big” ultrasound now! November 16th can’t come soon enough!
She’s beautiful and so are you. Growing this child is the most amazing thing your body will do.
She is so lovely. I agree about the spine thing. I do that with my kids sometimes. “how the heck did I MAKE something with her/his OWN OPINIONS?”
I think it’s pretty normal for them to try to move away from the ultrasound. While I am very pro-u/s for medical/screening issues, there is also some evidence out there that babies don’t like dopplers and ultrasounds. And since we can’t, like, ASK them how it makes them feel, I prefer to stick to a relatively minimal number of ultrasounds. That said, before I knew any of that I got a 2nd “big” ultrasound with my first because we REALLY wanted to know the sex and she was hiding from us so we went to a private ultrasound place and got their little 15 minute “gender check” option. And honestly, I’d do it again. I am someone who really hates surprises, meeting the baby itself is plenty surprising for me when it is born! So I really feel like I need that extra big of information to connect with the baby and reduce anxiety about not knowing.
I am not entirely sure if I had a point there? I think I am just writing a novel because I am half asleep and the kids are playing pleasantly so it is better than housecleaning…
So cute!! The big ultrasound is great, right? I am also due in February, and had my U/S almost 2 weeks ago now. I remember feeling in awe, and they were pointing everything out. The technician said “There’s the spine” to which I actually responded “Oh a spine! Spines are good!” Apparently I was caught up in the moment and not filtering my thoughts too well! The best is the little 1″ footprint photo, which I think I’ll cherish forever. So happy for you that all is going well. Same with my soon-to-be daughter. Wishing you all nothing but happiness, and I hope the remainder of your pregnancy goes great!
Hee. Not exactly the same, but your comment about barely heating up a pizza reminded me of something somebody else wrote some time about being pregnant: “Now, let me get this straight – I’m supposed to just trust that my body, all on its own, can make a brand new person? From scratch? You know what happened the last time I made a cake from scratch? Everyone pretended they liked it even though it was kind of awful, that’s what happened. My cake-from-scratch attempt went haywire. And if I can’t even make a cake from scratch, using my amazing adult human brain power and my own two hands, and highly delicious and superior ingredients, then I don’t understand! How does my body brainlessly create an entire human being who may someday fail at making a from-scratch cake of his or her own?”
It is totally amazing and awesome, and I remember during my own ultrasound, finding the spine, in particular, so very, very cool, too. (Yay!)
Awesome! Miraculous! For real.
JESSIE. That’s hysterical. Love it.
Thanks everyone.