Thumbs Up!

We had our 20 week ultrasound this week. The 20 week ultrasound, for you “prental techno-newbies”, is one of a number of prenatal screening tests done in the second trimester. It consists of an hour-long detailed anatomy scan of the baby. It is performed by a Sonographer and evaluated by a Perinatologist. The purpose of the scan is to:

• Check for major birth defects &/or structural abnormalities (open neural-tube defects, cleft lip/pallet, Downs Syndrome, heart/brain abnormalities, etc)
• Verify dates & growth
• Check amniotic fluid, placenta health, and umbilical chord
• Evaluate fetal well-being

For Bill and me, it was just another chance to spend an hour watching the baby. It was, quite simply, a blast. Gunthilda (our new contraction of Gunther and Brunhilda) was, as always, very active. We’ve definitely got a little squirmy one in there.

And what were the he ultrasound results, you ask?? They were a "Thumbs up"!

Yes, that IS the baby, giving us a thumbs up sign.

Brunther (another contraction of Brunhilda and Gunther) gets a gold star. Brain, heart, lungs, eyes, pallet/lips, arms, legs, etc… all look good. One might even say “great” in fact. Gunther has definitely grown in the 8 weeks since our last ultrasound. He weighs in at 15-oz and is measuring in at 20 weeks 4 days. The ultrasound was at 19 weeks, 6 days – which puts him about 5 days ahead, in other words - normal.

Here's a picture of Brunther's very long legs:

The Perinatologist said the baby has “a gorgeous round forehead, nice profile and is all around a very beautiful baby". I'm sure she says that to everyone, but it was fun to hear anyway. To add one more plus to the whole thing, we already know one of our baby's personality traits. We’ve now spent 2 + hours watching the baby in the course of this pregnancy and Brunhilda is ALWAYS seen with her hand curled up next to her face. We've actually never seen her in any other pose - except very briefly when moving.

As for Boo… well, he’s just being his normal “Monster” self. Here he is taking a bite out of my arm and enjoying some freshly picked daffodils. Er… daffodil water…