Almost speechless...

On Friday we had an ultrasound to look at the baby's heart and the placenta. Instead of going to the general diagnostics place, we got to make the appointment with the doctors at the Center for Maternal and Fetal Medicine, which BAMC uses for any instances or entire pregnancies that require an OB consult. So, the technician/ nurse did the ultrasound for us, and the doctor came in towards the end to take a look and verify her results (kind of like a routine dental visit).

Dr. Sweeny said the baby looks healthy, active, and normal. Not that I was super worried, but we were thrilled to receive this glowing report! They could see the heart this time, pumping away. And, the placenta isn't really low after all, it is fairly high and on my left side. Now I know why the baby is almost always on the right!!

In other news, baby is estimated to be above average in size. They told us it could weigh as much as 4 lbs. 8 oz right now! I am amazed that there is a baby that BIG inside me. And even though third trimester ultrasound results are not 100% accurate in terms of sizing or dating, it helps me to prepare for the possibility of having an 8 or 9 pound baby! Whoo!

They were both very happy not to reveal the baby's sex, and even warned us when they were measuring the bladder, and other such nearby areas. We couldn't see a darn thing, but it was nice of them anyway. Dr. Sweeny asked me if I had a mother's intuition about the sex of the baby, reassuring me that he wouldn't tell, either way. I told him that I thought it might be a girl, but didn't really think of the baby in terms of being a girl or boy yet. I was very careful not to make eye contact with him as I said this though! No cheating!

I asked the tech if she thought that the baby would cooperate and if we might be able to take home some pictures, and she promised she would try... we hadn't really been able to see anything recognizable throughout the scan, just the heart pumping, the top of the skull, and the spine for a brief moment. She focused in on the profile, and it appeared that the baby was sleeping, because she was able to get a nice clear picture! Look at those lips! Puckered up? Pouting?

Baby's profile. 31 weeks, 4 days.

And then she surprised us, 'let me just switch to 3D' she said casually. I was still thinking 'huh, 3D?' when a perfect image of baby's little face appeared on the screen. Oh, wow... It was as clear as a photograph. Amazing. Beautiful. Unbelievable! I am completely in awe of modern technology, and well, almost speechless...

Baby's face with right hand and mouth closed.

Baby's face with right hand and mouth open.

From these pictures, it looks like the baby might have my lips and Sonepheth's nose... The funny thing is, we have never really paid much attention to the age-old question of 'who will/ who does the baby look like?'. I guess we always just assumed that with Sonepheth's dark and prominent features, our children would look more like him. But, I don't know now... what do you think?