Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Daddy felt the baby!
So for weeks now Danielle has been able to feel DLB moving around inside but unfortuantely I have not been able to feel it on the outside. Yesterday she guided my hand where she thought I could feel it and sure enough, I felt movement for the first time. Even though I know there is a baby growing in there, seen the pictures, seen it move on the ultrasound screen, to feel it move for the first time was one of the coolest things I've ever experienced. I'm not sure, but it felt like DLB was practicing sliding into second base, breaking up a double play. Or telling Daddy that I was invading it's space.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
The Amazing DLB presented in 4-D! Boy or Girl? Hmm...
So this was the 'big' ultrasound we've been waiting for and boy have we been anxious for today to get here! This was the 20 week visit that would tell us any visible concerns about the baby's development and hopefully start to give us an idea of what our child looked like. Our anticipation has been growing steadily and our curiosity had about peaked so it was good that today finally got arrived.
Oh, and we could find out the sex if we so chose. Which we didn't. But did we? More on that later.
The setup for this was pretty cool, with a flat screen monitor mounted up on the wall so we could comfortably watch the scan as it happened. Danielle's mom Paula, and our 'niece' Marissa were with us so it was really neat that we could all see it so easily. This was the most advanced equipment they have used so far so we were quite amazed at the amount of detail it is able to pick up. It can look right into the baby itself and the doctor was immediately able to see the brain and measure its development and size to make sure it was coming along nicely. Both lobes were visible and all looked normal, at least to us. We were told it was normal as well. After that we were able to basically see every part of DLB as the doctor looked at each area to see if there was any cause for concern and take measurements to see if growth was within the normal brackets for this point in the pregnancy. One of the complications that diabetes can cause in pregnancy is a large baby, so this was one of the primary things to be looking for. Measurements of the head and torso showed we were on track and she put the due date as March 27th, 3 days later than we had been told previously. The size was normal and was not an area of concern at this point.
Each area of the scan amazed us when a recognizable portion came into view. Looking at the screen you would be searching for something that looked familiar and all of a sudden the head would materialize with definite eye sockets and facial structure, and a tiny hand moving by as if to wave at us. The feet came into view and if we tried we may have been able to count the bones in the foot! As each hand was frozen on the screen we counted 5 perfect little fingers on each of them, stretched out a big as could be. The heart beating away...wheao, wheao, wheao... this time we could hear it and see it at the same time, sychronized in its dance and melody. A lot of time was spent on the heart for the Heart Echo. This was pretty amazing since we could see each ventricle pumping away and it showed red for blood pumping towards the transponder and blue if it was moving away. Looked even more like a Rave with all the blinking lights. The spine would come into view with all the ribs surrounding the chest.
Every now and then the doctor would hit a button and a perfect 4-D picture would come into view and our baby's face would appear and it was absolutely astounding. Seeing our beautiful baby for the first time, eyes closed with it's tiny nose and little lips, took our breath away, and tears to my eyes. What a picture of perfection and serenity.
Believe it or not, our baby was being a bit of a pain and would not cooperate fully with the procedure. Danielle had to roll to the left, then to the right, then flat again, then to the left, and so on, so they could try to get the right angles to see everything. Danielle and her Mom blame me for the stubbornness, but of course we all know it's Danielle. The Irish aren't known to be stubborn and uncooperative. We're cordial and inviting, here to please. And I won't believe otherwise. No matter what you say.
As far as the rest of the scan, the part that everyone wants to know except us, was the inevitable sighting of "the parts". We have told every doctor and nurse from the get-go that we did not want to know at any time what the sex was going to be. Surprise is more than a suburb of Phoenix to us (Surprise, AZ is a town for all of you out of state) and we wanted it to join us in the delivery room at all costs. We knew that these scans were going to be the place to ruin that so we repeated that to everyone we came in contact with. When the time came to see the area in question we were told to look away and we did, not even peeking. Paula watched the whole thing but she says she couldn't tell head nor tail so the secret seems to be safe from her as well. After seeing all that we did see, we can piece together what we are indeed having in March. The 4D is so detailed you can't help but notice, the tell tale signs, the small but perfectly shaped pieces poking out at you from the dark. We are happy to announce that we are having a beautiful, bouncing baby human. 10 fingers, 10 toes, two feet, two hands, a cute face, and everything else in between. We still don't know what gender and it truly doesn't matter to us. Just a baby is what we asked God for and that is the prayer He answered.
Full frontal view, rather Terminator-esque. In a cute way though.
AWWWW! A foot!! How cute!! We were assured it is attached to one of the legs.
Full profile with leg and an arm. Maybe?
Right arm is folded next to the head, left arm is extended with the hand fully open waving at you! Wave back! C'mon you know you want to! This is also the best facial features we can see. Ear, eye, nose, mouth are all visible.
These last two are pretty amazing as well. The first one is a reenactment of "hear no evil" with the hands up over the ears. The second one is rather cool because it shows the umbilical cord curling in front of the face. Or maybe its a boy and he's showing off. Hard to really tell just yet.
We will have another set of these done in 6 weeks to help keep track of the growth and make sure that the baby is not getting too big. Another big day to look forward to!
Oh, and we could find out the sex if we so chose. Which we didn't. But did we? More on that later.
The setup for this was pretty cool, with a flat screen monitor mounted up on the wall so we could comfortably watch the scan as it happened. Danielle's mom Paula, and our 'niece' Marissa were with us so it was really neat that we could all see it so easily. This was the most advanced equipment they have used so far so we were quite amazed at the amount of detail it is able to pick up. It can look right into the baby itself and the doctor was immediately able to see the brain and measure its development and size to make sure it was coming along nicely. Both lobes were visible and all looked normal, at least to us. We were told it was normal as well. After that we were able to basically see every part of DLB as the doctor looked at each area to see if there was any cause for concern and take measurements to see if growth was within the normal brackets for this point in the pregnancy. One of the complications that diabetes can cause in pregnancy is a large baby, so this was one of the primary things to be looking for. Measurements of the head and torso showed we were on track and she put the due date as March 27th, 3 days later than we had been told previously. The size was normal and was not an area of concern at this point.
Each area of the scan amazed us when a recognizable portion came into view. Looking at the screen you would be searching for something that looked familiar and all of a sudden the head would materialize with definite eye sockets and facial structure, and a tiny hand moving by as if to wave at us. The feet came into view and if we tried we may have been able to count the bones in the foot! As each hand was frozen on the screen we counted 5 perfect little fingers on each of them, stretched out a big as could be. The heart beating away...wheao, wheao, wheao... this time we could hear it and see it at the same time, sychronized in its dance and melody. A lot of time was spent on the heart for the Heart Echo. This was pretty amazing since we could see each ventricle pumping away and it showed red for blood pumping towards the transponder and blue if it was moving away. Looked even more like a Rave with all the blinking lights. The spine would come into view with all the ribs surrounding the chest.
Every now and then the doctor would hit a button and a perfect 4-D picture would come into view and our baby's face would appear and it was absolutely astounding. Seeing our beautiful baby for the first time, eyes closed with it's tiny nose and little lips, took our breath away, and tears to my eyes. What a picture of perfection and serenity.
Believe it or not, our baby was being a bit of a pain and would not cooperate fully with the procedure. Danielle had to roll to the left, then to the right, then flat again, then to the left, and so on, so they could try to get the right angles to see everything. Danielle and her Mom blame me for the stubbornness, but of course we all know it's Danielle. The Irish aren't known to be stubborn and uncooperative. We're cordial and inviting, here to please. And I won't believe otherwise. No matter what you say.
As far as the rest of the scan, the part that everyone wants to know except us, was the inevitable sighting of "the parts". We have told every doctor and nurse from the get-go that we did not want to know at any time what the sex was going to be. Surprise is more than a suburb of Phoenix to us (Surprise, AZ is a town for all of you out of state) and we wanted it to join us in the delivery room at all costs. We knew that these scans were going to be the place to ruin that so we repeated that to everyone we came in contact with. When the time came to see the area in question we were told to look away and we did, not even peeking. Paula watched the whole thing but she says she couldn't tell head nor tail so the secret seems to be safe from her as well. After seeing all that we did see, we can piece together what we are indeed having in March. The 4D is so detailed you can't help but notice, the tell tale signs, the small but perfectly shaped pieces poking out at you from the dark. We are happy to announce that we are having a beautiful, bouncing baby human. 10 fingers, 10 toes, two feet, two hands, a cute face, and everything else in between. We still don't know what gender and it truly doesn't matter to us. Just a baby is what we asked God for and that is the prayer He answered.
Full frontal view, rather Terminator-esque. In a cute way though.
AWWWW! A foot!! How cute!! We were assured it is attached to one of the legs.
Full profile with leg and an arm. Maybe?
Right arm is folded next to the head, left arm is extended with the hand fully open waving at you! Wave back! C'mon you know you want to! This is also the best facial features we can see. Ear, eye, nose, mouth are all visible.
These last two are pretty amazing as well. The first one is a reenactment of "hear no evil" with the hands up over the ears. The second one is rather cool because it shows the umbilical cord curling in front of the face. Or maybe its a boy and he's showing off. Hard to really tell just yet.
We will have another set of these done in 6 weeks to help keep track of the growth and make sure that the baby is not getting too big. Another big day to look forward to!
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