Week 9: Our First Ultrasound

When I met with the nurse from my OB's office for the first time, she mentioned that they wouldn't be doing an ultrasound until the "big one" around 20 weeks, to determine the sex and check all of the anatomy.  I think she could tell from the look on my face that this freaked me out a little.  There I was, only 7 weeks pregnant, and being told I had to wait another 13 weeks to even make sure there was a baby in there.  So, she agreed to do a "dating" ultrasound at 9.5 weeks to measure the baby according to how big it should be at that point.  We were scheduled to do that on Thursday, March 3rd at 8:40 AM.

So, that day rolls around, and my boss was on vacation for the week.  Meaning I was in charge of our two fill-in therapists and the clinic.  I showed up at 7:30 AM that morning, ready to unlock the clinic, switch the phones over, start a load of laundry, and generally get the clinic ready for the therapist and patients to arrive.  When I opened the door that morning, however, I discovered the clinic was freezing cold, and our heat pump wasn't working.  Terrific.  So I'm calling my electrician-dad, my boss, and the company that installed the unit, trying to get it working so all of my patients don't freeze.  I managed to get out the door on time for my appointment, and raced across town while trying to chug the 1 quart of water required before my ultrasound, all the while attempting to not pee my pants.

Josh met me at the office, and we walked in, both nervous and excited.  The tech called us back, had me lie down, dimmed the lights, and squirted warm ultrasound gel on my stomach.  She put the wand on my stomach, and we immediately saw our kiddo.  It was the most amazing sight I could ever imagine seeing.  We could distinguish the head and eyes, and its little arm stubs, and the torso.  It was wiggling around, and we could see the heart flickering on the screen.  The tech measured the heartrate, at 167 bpm.  She printed off a couple of pictures for us, and we were done.  Josh and I couldn't stop smiling and giggling, and we both walked out of there on a complete high.  We each took a copy of the picture, and he showed everybody at work that day.  He's such a proud daddy!

We still have to wait until closer to 20 weeks to find out if I'm carrying a little boy or girl, and right now that seems like a loooooonnnnggggg ways away.  We're very much looking forward to that day!