We had our Week 18 ultrasound this past Tuesday. Those who know us know that our first baby had trisomy 13 and so did not make it past Week 24. It was during our Week 19 ultrasound that we first began to get a sense of how serious her condition was; thus, we were both a bit more nervous that I realized as we headed for new baby's latest ultrasound. It was a long one (about forty-five minutes), but all went well: the doctor said that everything looks great. In fact, she went so far as to say that she guarantees that new baby has no genetic defects. While the superstitious side of me cringed, it was good to hear. Indeed, everything looked remarkably normal, which in this case was wonderful.We got lots of photos from the session. Above is one in which new baby looks like she's thinking. Also, the ultrasound technician confirmed that she is a girl. Back in Week 12 a different ultrasound technician predicted female based on a new experimental method for determining sex in Week 12 that the technician had just learned. The technician this time had a difficult time confirming the sex, however, as new baby was being very modest: she kept her legs together and pulled up, and as the technician tried to get her to change positions, she actually crossed her ankles. Eventually, however, she relented, kicking her legs out for all to see: definitely female.
She also looks really cute. R told me that babies initially look much like they do in the womb, so we might just have a cute baby on our hands. Yes, yes, I know that all babies are cute ...
Finally, the estimated due date still appears to be correct: it was October 31st this time, just a day later than the earlier estimate.
And she's moving quite a bit. R felt her at the start of Week 16, and I was able to clearly feel her this past Thursday. It was wonderful.
