The First Ultrasound

Today marked the big day of the first ultrasound. Jarrett was able to go to the appointment with me, and lunch afterward, which made the morning that much more special. We arrived at Emory University Hospital--Midtown (previously Crawford Long), where See Baby's office is located, and were once again awed by how swanky that hospital is (we commented on this when we visited after the birth of our friends' baby). Too bad midwives are not welcome there.

I filled out more paperwork, though it was fairly abbreviated, and after scanning the Atlanta skyline from the eleventh floor for a few minutes, we were escorted back to one of the ultrasound rooms. I felt like I was going in for a massage. The table was ultra-comfy, complete with a chenille throw blanket and a warmer the technician wrapped around my neck to "help me relax." She went into the ultrasound fairly promptly, and we were able to view the entire thing from the multiple screens around the room. I concentrated on the one hanging on the wall directly in front of me, and was thrilled when she almost immediately found the baby and I could see its little heart beating away. She turned on the sound so we could hear the heartbeat, which was fantastic. Happy noises escaped both my and Jarrett's lips, and Jarrett placed his hand on my arm, which nearly immediately made me tear up.

The technician pointed out the head (on the right) and the rear-end (on the left), though I have to admit that I could not make out anything besides the little beating heart. I felt like I was more easily able to make out Elsa in her first ultrasound, even if she did look a bit like a gummy bear -- this little one just looked like a bean, pure and simple. The technician did a lot of scanning and measuring, and at the end told us that the measurements concluded I am eight weeks, four days, along today, as opposed to the ten weeks, three days, the calendar would lead us to believe. So the due date is September 10. Just to compare, Elsa's due date was September 9, and she arrived on September 7. Needless to say, these siblings' birthdays are likely going to be close.

We met with the doctor after the ultrasound, and he went over the photos with us on his desktop computer. He said everything looked great and normal. The heartbeat was 164, which is completely normal, but also a little on the high side, which he commented would lead some to believe that it is a girl (I also remember Elsa's heartbeat being in the 160s), but wives' tales such as those are just that. I guess we will have to wait a few months before being able to confirm that big question.