20 Weeks Down

This morning we had our much anticipated 20 week ultrasound.  It was such a fun experience and the doctor, ultrasound tech, and student who worked with us were some of the most friendly I have encountered.  Not that I have really encountered a lot, but they were very thorough and friendly which was fantastic.  Last night I was very concerned about the appointment, I didn't feel worried about the health of the babies, but I had this odd fear that Fetal Fotos got the gender wrong and that we were really having two boys.  I would have been happy to have two boys, but I had this irrational fear that if it were two boys that the one would be scarred from being referred to as Lindsey for an entire month.  

Good thing those concerns were put to bed at the appointment today.  Baby A is still a little girl, Lindsey, and baby B is still a little boy, Owen.  They are measuring within 3 days of the date we originally thought, but they did move the 40 week date to October 11th, from October 12.  Both Owen and Lindsey measured in right at 11 oz, so it's good to know that they are close in size.  The doctor at LDS hospital said that there is a 75% chance that they will be born between 35 and 37 weeks gestation.  It's crazy to think that they could be here in 15 short weeks.  She also said that if I get to 38 weeks they will have mercy on me and induce labor.  That means rather than October babies, we will have mid-late September babies.

It was amazing to see all of the anatomy that they were measuring today.  We got to see the four chambers of each baby's heart and the two main arteries as well.  We looked at the bladder, kidneys, diaphragm, and stomach too.  Spinal measurements, brain, and amniotic fluid measurements were all taken as well.  At one point the ultrasound showed the blood flow from the umbilical cord into the body.  It is just so amazing to be able to see the miracle of growing life inside of me.  Jon and I both feel that these babies are a miracle in our lives, but really, every life is a miracle.  We are so grateful that these two are so healthy.  We learned from the anatomy scan that they both have intact upper lips, so cleft lip/palate is ruled out.  We saw that the neural tube on each baby is fully encased, ruling out spina bifida and other spine issues.  We saw the 20 fingers and 20 toes.  We saw all of the necessary parts of the heart and two function kidneys per baby.  How amazing.  When I think about the time in which we live, where there are so many medical procedures and advances that allow for us to have this knowledge, I cannot help but be grateful to have been born when I was.  I know that people in olden times were blessed in other ways, but what a relief it is to be able to spend an hour at the doctor and see that all is well.

Well, I should be heading into work, but I wanted to write about the experience while it was still fresh in my mind.  Oh, I wanted to squash the boy/girl heartrate myth too.  Lindsey was 142 BPM and Owen was 140 BPM.

Sorry if our blog has turned into a baby update blog.  I'm not very good at keeping a journal and feel like some of these things just need to be documented, and I'd love for family and friends to be able to enjoy them as well.

Owen on the right, Lindsey on the left.  Those are their heads.

Owen's profile.

Lindsey's profile.

Owen proving that he's still a boy.

Lindsey proving that she's still a girl.

Lindsey's feet.

Owen's left foot.