It's a Happy Day: 23.5 week Sonogram

So it has been another two weeks, so you know what that means, another sonogram has rolled around. I always thoroughly enjoy getting to see our Bean on screen. And today was especially cool.

Here are the stats from today's visit:

Cervix: 3.41 cm--It went down a smidge, but still a great measurement. They are totally happy with anything above 3cm. 

Momma's weight: 122.5#. This means that in two weeks I've gained only a half pound. Hhmm..Doc didn't say anything about it. I've gained about 10 pounds total to-date. 

Baby's weight: 1 pound and 6 ounces

Baby is in the 51% percentile for its weight. This is still one time that I like being "average"

They did a growth scan today of the baby and the baby is measuring exactly 23.5 weeks, exactly how far along I am. I'm not sure why they decided to do a growth scan today, as I was told most "normal" women would only have a 9 wk sono, a 20 wk, and maybe one right before delivering to confirm the baby's weight. I think I'm going to call and ask  why they needed to do one today, as they have never done a growth check other than on the standard anatomy scan at 20 weeks. Huh.
Update: Their new protocol is that if someone is coming in for regular sonos they will check the baby's growth rate once a month just to be as thorough as possible. 

I was also told that the baby and I create magnificent textbook sono images and that we could be used as  subjects in sonography school to teach students.  Interesting. She thinks this is due to how well I stay hydrated, as more hydration in the body allows for the sono waves to bounce back easier and give a cleaner image from all the water in the tissue. 

I told the doc and the sono tech that in the last week I have not been able to feel the baby move near as much. Reason for this: 1. The baby is sitting in a breach position with the head right at my belly button and its feet down by my cervix, which is where it was last time too,  which doesn't offer a lot of space to feel baby kicks. 2. During this time in pregnancy the placenta is growing and getting thicker and since mine is high front, it is further muffling all the movements from the baby as it's very "pillowy". The baby was moving a lot during the sono but I could barely feel any of them. But the doc says that she thinks this will all change in the next 2-4 weeks as me and the baby will grow a lot. We'll see. I've been waiting on all that growing for some time. The doc also said she wasn't worried about my Braxton Hicks contractions and some women contract more than others without causing any change to the cervix, and my cervix hasn't made any radical change in two weeks.  And as long as there is no change to the cervix and they aren't painful, then not to worry about them. But she did say that I need to make sure to be taking it easy and not to stay on my feet too long, as sometimes these can be caused by over activity and standing too long. Huh. Don't think this is the case with me, maybe I just have a cranky uterus. 

The baby has grown over a 1/2 pound in the last 4 weeks, averaging a little over 2 ounces per week. So even though I haven't gained any weight in the last two weeks, at least the baby appears to have put on some weight. 

Side note, I love my sono tech. She has been doing almost all of my sonos from day one and we have really built up a great report. I feel totally comfortable with her and she totally takes her time with me and the baby and always gives us lots of pics of the Bean. Love you, Debbie! 

She also turned on the 3D imaging today during the sono! The baby was not directly facing her so she couldn't get great 3D images of the face, but we did get two. I totally think this baby is a boy. I think the face looks totally  like a little boy's face. What ever the sex organs he/she is packin' below, this little one has some plump little lips, too! Gorgeous lips! And the baby has Kevin's face shape, a heart. Since the baby still hasn't put on a ton of fat on the face you can really tell the facial shape pretty clearly. I absolutely looooved getting to see the baby look more "babyish"!! It really made me feel connected to our little one. 

2D Profile

3D of the face. He/she has their mouth open.

3D pic. Look at those lips! And that is totally Kevin's jaw line. I think I'm even more in love. And for the record, I think this is my little boy. 

Today was a great visit. So I'm feeling really happy. We will go back in two more weeks for the same thing and then reassess from there what the plan is going to be. So it's looking like starting in January there may be no more sonograms, just regular OB appointments with the doppler. I think I've been spoiled with all the sonos, but I'll take no sonos if that means we have a totally normal and healthy pregnancy any day.