Last week, I went in for the 20th week anatomy scan. The little one was facing backwards and would not turn around. The tech said that there were ways to coax her to move, but the way she shoved and rattled my stomach, I thought she may as well start yelling and making threats.
Needless to say, I wasn’t too fond of her bedside manner, and apparently, neither was the little one - she kept her back towards us and wiggled around a bit but otherwise didn’t budge.
Thankfully, the doctor was able to see enough images to determine that the little one was progressing along just fine. We only caught a glimpse of her left hand, and she wouldn’t show us her face for anything, but all the other measurements and brain developments showed that she was healthy and right on track. She came in at 12 oz., and although she was too “tall” to measure her height anymore, all her measurements put her at the 40th percentile. The doctor mentioned that he had to reschedule the anatomy scan so that he can get the remaining images to just make sure that we covered all our bases.
So today, I had to go back for a second try at the ultrasound, then stay for a Fetal Echocardiogram. Apparently, babies conceived through IVF have a higher chance of congenital heart defects, so this was highly recommended for us.
Thankfully, I got a different ultrasound tech today.
The little one was in the exact same position - facing backward with no sign of turning around any time soon - but this time, the tech actually tried to coax her, speaking gently to her the whole time. No go, but it was still better than the last tech because the little one actually moved a lot more.
Then I had a go at trying to convince her.
And she turned.
Not all the way, but just enough for us to get all the images we need:
Profile (skull & nasal bone)
Five fingers on her right hand
Five fingers on her left hand
Ten toes on her tiny little feet
She weighed in at 15 oz. - 1 oz. shy of a full pound! She landed right at the 76th percentile, and she was healthy - no signs of cleft palate, spinal defects, or any developmental delays. Then came the echocardiogram.
After another 45 minutes of ultrasound sonography, we found out that she had a good, strong heart, and everything is where they’re supposed to be, functioning exactly the way they’re supposed to.
And now if I can just feel her moving so I can finally know what all the fuss is about.