GROWING LIKE A WEED

13 weeks, 6 days

Amazing. My second ultrasound for Baby "E" measured in at 11 weeks, 6 days on May 5th. It's amazing how in a little over 3 weeks my sweet little one has grown so much! This time he/she looked MUCH more baby-like! Hooray! It was amazing to see our "little peanut" (who is not so little or so peanut-like anymore) moving around - legs and arms kicking up and down. It reminded me of riding a roller coaster - how I love to raise my arms at the top of the track and then squeal all the way down arms flailing. I bet when Baby "E" gets big enough for me to feel those kicks I will miss the early days of just being able to see them! Ouch!

This ultrasound was to test for down syndrome by measuring the length of the Nuchal Fold. I believe anything over a measurement of 3 mm puts you at an increased risk. Baby "E" measured in at around 1.5 mm, which the ultrasound tech said was perfect! He/she was profile the whole time and so we got some adorable pictures where you could see the little forehead, nose, and mouth. So cute!

Another awesome experience was to hear the heartbeat! At the first ultrasound we could see it beating, but it was still too early to hear. This time it was loud and clear and sounded like a muffled washing machine - swish, swish, swish. How many beats per minute? 156! But I think that was in part because of how much he/she was moving around.

All in all, a wonderful experience!