Blessings

You know, I remember when I went in for my 10 week appointment and we did an ultrasound, and I got to see our little baby and it didn't look like a tiny blob anymore, but like an actual baby-- it was the coolest feeling in the world, looking at the screen and thinking "that's our child!"

Well, this morning was even better. =)

I was scheduled to go in for my NT scan this morning, to check for Downs Syndrome and other defects. I knew our chances of Downs were really low (like 1 in a 1000+) so I wasn't worried, more excited to get to see our little one again and make sure everything was still going well.

And it is! Loki is perfectly healthy, everything looks great, in fact s/he's measuring a week ahead-- according to our calculations all along (which have been on target so far) I just turned 13 weeks yesterday, but today they measured at 14 weeks! So my due date's been moved up from Feb 10 to the 4th. I joked with Zach that I think our baby's superstitious-- didn't wanna risk that week "number 13" and skipped right past it, like old buildings that go from the 12th floor straight on to the 14th. ; ) I'm just happy b/c that officially puts me in the 2nd trimester, which is a nice milestone to reach.

Anyway, so the doctor made some measurements for size and everything, and Loki was giving her a bit of a hard time by moving too much! It was awesome. She was trying to show me where the legs and arms were, but they kept moving all over the place! But it was truly amazing how much you can see-- I have one picture that shows the facial profile perfectly, right down to the nose and lips. And I got to see one of the hands, as it was waving around, and see all 5 perfectly formed fingers and everything. =)

AND... she then turns to me and asks if I want to know the sex of the baby. I say I'd love to, but is it very accurate, this early? Well, she was pretty darn sure. But I won't announce it here yet b/c we haven't gotten a chance to share the news with family members that may want to know yet, so I'll keep mum. But you can shoot me an email if you wanna know. ; ) I'll just say that, when I found out, I think everything just hit me at once and I started crying right there on the table, it was just so incredible. I walked out of there with this huge smile on my face, so happy. I realize how lucky I am that I get to see our little one so often, with a monthly ultrasound. I get so nervous between appointments, esp in this 1st trimester, anxious to make sure everything's fine, and I can't imagine what it's like for women that don't even get one till 20 weeks. It's so great and reassuring to get to take a peek so often, say hello, make it all seem so much more real.

And in about 6 months, we'll have our darling baby here at home with us. Wonderful, scary, exciting, incredible... wow. Simply... amazing.