Baby #3...Week 12 Appt.

This past Monday I had our first follow up appointment. I brought the boys with me as it should be quick and painless. They did very well. As I walked back to give a sample of my urine, they stopped and said hi to the doctor and nurse, which they both interacted with my kids...gotta love it. Afterwards we went right into the room (after I got weighed...so far according to my scale, 8 lbs. I tend to gain quite a bit in the beginning). The nurse took my blood pressure and the boys thought that was pretty cool. The doc came in quickly (thank you) and right away wanted to check the heartbeat...woohoo! Logan rest me assured that it was okay. They asked what he was doing and he told them. He reminded me that it could be early to hear it on this device. I also later learned that sometimes the c-section scar tissue can interfere. The doc checked for about 20-30 seconds and said 'eh, let's go to the ultrasound room'...um, okay!! I admit I was not very nervous about there not being a heartbeat (perhaps I should have been), but the past few nights I began feeling flutters, so I was re-assured. Plus, he moved so quickly and I was corralling the boys, so I didn't have much time to be nervous.

As the doctor put the scanner on my belly Logan put his hand on my leg and said 'It's okay, Mommy, the doctor is just going to check you'. Oh gosh, melt my heart...what a cutie pie! I already had my phone out because I was going to record the heartbeat for John. So instead...I got to record my ultrasound!!! Pretty cool! I got 2 minutes of a video of our baby!! Right away he showed us the baby and we saw the little heartbeat (whew). We saw the baby move and kick me! :) The boys were pretty enamored. Granted, I didn't look at their faces cuz my eyes were affixed on the screen, but they were asking questions and standing still.

The heartbeat was 161 beats per minute. (I didn't record Logan's at this stage, but Carter's was 170 a week earlier). The doctor printed out some pictures, but man...those pictures were crap! Thankfully I recorded it and thanks to my smartphone I can capture pictures during the video. So here they are... You may need to look at the picture for a bit before you decipher, but the baby is pretty big.

This first picture is the body of the baby. You will see a bright, thin green line going through the middle of the screen - that is how he was measuring the babies heartbeat. You can see the head, arms, hands, stomach, legs and feet!!! I asked if he could see girl or boy parts, but I don't think he heard me. I would've asked again, but I know at 12 weeks it is just too early unless you do an amnio, which I will not do. What a cute baby, huh???

This next picture is just the face. The baby after they were done playing peek-a-boo with their hands over their face, they looked right at the camera. So you should see the eyes, nose and mouth. You can actually also see the right arm hanging down. The head is big compared to the body at this stage...but when the baby comes out...all is proportionate!

I was so excited to get a surprise ultrasound! Next visit, I will not get one, however...the appointment after will be the big ultrasound! I am so excited to find out if I am shopping for pink or blue...time to set my budget for my initial shopping trip, now!