That's My Baby!

Today was "Gender Monday" at That's My Baby Ultrasound in Bowie. I knew ahead of time that I would get MLK day off so I made an appointment. I was so glad that I did! Gender Monday is a determination/validation of your baby's gender via 2D ultrasound and 4 prints for only $40. Comparatively speaking (since we've paid full price for diagnostic ultrasounds), that's really, really cheap! Since it wasn't a medical ultrasound, I invited the grandparents along so they could see the grand-baby moving around and not just the images after the fact. Dan's parents were especially happy to come along since this is their first grand-baby and my mom was happy because I'm her oldest and she got to see her "first born's first born".

Upon initial entry to That's My Baby, we weren't overly impressed. There was a candle burning for aroma therapy that made both Dan and his mom uncomfortable and they waited in the hallway for a bit before Dan blew the candle out while nobody was looking and then they felt better. There appeared to only be one person working (from the website and my correspondance making the appointment, I think her name was Jennifer) and several families waiting to get their ultrasounds. My appointment was at 12:15 originally but I don't think we got seen until closer to 12:45 or 1, but once we nabbed a spot in the waiting room we were fine.

Jennifer was really friendly and thankful for everyone's patience. I got the impression that they frequently ran behind (there was a sign that said as much), but it seemed well done in that Jennifer did spend the same amount of time with everyone and didn't rush anybody through their appointment. I'm ok with running behind as long as nobody feels rushed. The ultrasound room was big, with seating for family, and the bed was actually a bed not just a gurney with a sheet over it. We got to see the ultrasound projected on a big screen on the wall, so I didn't have to crane my neck to see the tech's tiny screen. That was really nice because everybody in the room had a great view of the baby.

He was pretty cooperative today too. Flashed the camera a couple times for us, confirming that he is very definitely a boy. But he was also moving around, stretching, sticking his tongue out, opening his mouth, and kicking like crazy. We could see all different parts, like his big hands and feet, long legs, ribs, and his big head. She measured him and said that by measurements he was coming in at 26 weeks along instead of just 22--which is what I said my ultrasound tech had told us, he was measuring big. I'm still going by my original due date because that's based on my cycle, if we went by this ultrasound I'm a month farther along than what I actually am and we know that's not possible because of when my last period was (I kept good records). He's also weighing in at around 2lbs. which is pretty big. At 19 weeks he only measured 12oz. which means he gained over a pound in 3 weeks. At that rate, by my math, he'll be around 8lbs. or more when he's born! 8 is decent, Dan was 10 and I was 6, so that's meeting halfway ;)

I also liked that Jennifer did some quick 3D peeks at him even though our package didn't technically include it. This isn't a medical facility in any way, they're based off their customers' satisfaction and word of mouth, which means they're going to treat their customers really well. We even got 9 prints instead of the 4 that the package said, the ones I posted were the best, though I put them all up on Facebook. :) The 3D picks were pretty blobby, I'm kinda glad that we didn't pay for them at this point, maybe farther along I'll think about it when he's bigger. I really want to do a maternity photo shoot and that money will take priority over a 3D ultrasound. Even in the blobby 3D pictures we can get some details like chubby cheeks like Dan and a pronounced chin like mine. It's hard to tell but he even might have Dan's wide nose.

Overall, it's been a very good day :) We go in for a diagnostic ultrasound on Friday to have another look at his heart, they couldn't see it very well last time, just to check for defects. My doctor called me up and said they needed another ultrasound specifically to look at it and my thought was, "You're telling me to go see my baby again? OK!" Despite what it costs us with our huge deductible, I'm not stressing about the money because we've been well taken care of so far. We'll keep trusting in God and let him do his thing since his planning is, by far, so much better than ours.