The girl is stubborn!

We had a great OB appointment yesterday. The anatomy scan went relatively well. Our baby girl was drop-dead gorgeous, of course, and was flailing away with her arms and legs. We saw the beautiful blood flow to her organs. Her heart was a big, beautiful, beating 4 chambered wonder. The umbilical cord was thicker than I expected to see (never saw one before) and we found out my placenta is high in the fundus. So, all good!!! However, she was totally uncooperative with the gender check and the head measurements. So...get ready for this....we get another u/s next time!!!! And, I didn't even have to beg!!! Woo hoo!!! The scale scared me though. At home, I've gained 5.2 lbs...we have a good scale and I check almost daily. At the OB's office, I've gained 10 lbs!!!! How is that even possible? I still don't really even like food! But, he said 10 lbs is ideal...and the baby weighed over 7 oz so she is doing just fine in there...so no matter what, all is good. I still voiced some worry over miscarriage and my doctor said, which a shocked face, "but you are 18 weeks, she is in there!!!".

The ultrasound technician is the nicest woman. She spent a long time hoping that our little girl would move over or flip over and wiggling the probe on my belly in the hopes that it would help. Neither Brett nor I could take our eyes off of the screen. Her arms were flailing overhead and she has very long legs already (gets it from mom:-)). We were laughing and tearing up and totally glued to the screen. She also sent us home with 7 pictures! Some aren't so clear but I'll post the three best here.

About the doctor himself. He was great. It started out very quick, he asked "how are you feeling?" and after he measured my belly and said, "yup, it feels like 18 weeks to me!" and looked toward the door, I looked at him and said I have some questions and proceeded to pull a sheet of paper out of my purse. He laughed and sat down and said "that is what I am here for". So, we talked. I genuinely liked his philosophy. He is conservative in terms of c-section and induction, unless the patient requests otherwise. He came off as very understanding and willing to work with me as to what I want. I did tell him that I am not demanding anything at all...if medically necessary, I don't care what he does to get a healthy baby out...so he wasn't feeling overwhelmed by me either, I hope. Brett and I left feeling a lot better about our choice. So, I am staying with him.

Besides that, we are just enjoying this. Life has been stressful lately since Brett is traveling so much for work, my family is crazy and overpowering lately, and we are caught in cash-for-clunkers hell. But, we have a beautiful little girl (90% or so odds she is female, right?) growing. I am starting to show and am now willing to post a belly pic (I know, I've been saying this for weeks, but ultimately, I really have been waiting for the belly to overshadow the big butt). Every time I have Brett take a pic of me to post, I am offended at the size of my tush! But, I'm getting over it now that the belly is looking more pregnant and less beer gut. So, I promise that this weekend, I will post a 19 week belly pic. There, I said it:-)

So, without further ado...

Check out the leg! And the big foot!!! She was almost sucking on her toes!

Here is a really good profile. You can see her little nose and lips and that line of dots is the umbilical cord (you probably already knew that - I didn't!).

Another shot of the profile with the foot and you can see some of her ribs, etc. She's so cute!