Can you believe it?! NINE OUNCES. That is 291 grams!!! 1/4 kg or 1/2 a lb!!!
Also learned today that when the baby gets bigger you don't need to have a full bladder for them to see anything in the ultrasound. Good to know now.
It was quite the ordeal, there are A LOT of things they measure, not really sure how they are able to see all these things, but it was still amazing to watch! Jacob finally got to hear the heartbeat, so no more guilt trips!
Just as an example of what they test, here's what the evaluation said:
Measurements:
BPD: 4.3 cm
FL: 2.84 cm
HC: 16.24 cm
AC: 13.71 cm
HL: 2.79 cm
Basic Anatomy:
The following fetal anatomy was identified and no abnormalities were visualized in these structures at this time: Cerebellum. Cerebellar vermis. Lateral ventricles. Cavum septum pellucidum. Orbits. Upperl lip. Palate. Facial profile. Heart-regular rhythm. 4 chamber heart. Cardiac acis and location. Right cardiac outflow tract. Left cardiac outflow tract. Chest parenchyma. Absence of chest mass. Absence of pleural effusion. Diaphragm. Fetal cord insertion. Placental cord insertion. Stomach. Absence of ascites. Bowel. Kidnes. Bladder. 3 vessel cord. Spine. Extremities. Hands. Feet. Placenta. Maternal uterus. Maternal adnexa. Maternal cervix.
Measurements/Recommendations:
Measurements are consistent with dates. Normal interval growth. Normal amniotic flud volume. No fetal malformations were identified.
Is any of that english? Ok, some of it is, and some of it is in latin, I am sure - but holy crap, they check for A LOT of stuff (and with a full bladder, it does feel like an eternity), at the same time it is beyond mesmerizing and miraculous that we can make something so precise as that. We were actually able to see all the four chambers of the heart. SEE the heart beating, also see the little legs moving around, toes, fingers, the BRAIN even! Amazing.
Had to go look up what all those abbreviations meant for the measurements, and found this website:
http://www.baby2see.com/medical/charts.html
Here's a quick cheat sheet:
BPD = biparietal diameter
FL = femur length
HC = head circumference
AC = abdominal circumference
HL = humerus length
The little squirt was not good at cooperating, deciding to be mostly curled up, some arms waving, and right when she was ready to take a picture of the face, put the hands in front of its face. Had to do some waiting around until the baby decided to cooperate. We were quite ok with just sitting around watching the awesome moving pictures on the screen.
When there is a couple of weeks between appointments it starts to feel unreal, especially with not much of a bump to watch, but on a day like today it feels very real! Especially when we got to see the most perfect little foot! Check it out:
TWO little feet:
A face:
The spine:
The stepwise sequential screening blood work was also normal. Now all we are doing is just watching it grow.
We're almost almost half way!