At the O.B. -- a sneak-peek at U.B.'s "business end"

Today was our first REAL appointment, where I wasn't just interviewed. I found out my pee from Wednesday was clean, meaning no more Group B Strep, though the O.B. said they would be giving me I.V. antibiotics once we get to the delivery room as a precaution. Also, I don't have tuberculosis. Yay! I got scolded a bit because I had gained three whole pounds since Wednesday. That's three pounds in five days -- perhaps I should become a boxer?. Don't blame me; I had the perfect excuse. Grandma Ross was in town all weekend, and she force-fed me those many oatmeal raisin cookies she made, I swear. My fundal height (how big my uterus is) measured 19 cm, which the doc said was on the small end of normal for being 21 weeks, but I have protested all along that my due date is probably later than what has been calculated. U.B.'s heart beat was strong and ~150 beats per minute. U.B. kept moving around and kicking while the doc was trying to pick out the heartbeat, prompting her to say, "This is one active baby."

The N.P. from Wednesday suggested that, if I brought Grandma Ross along, she could come in with the Isaac-monster and everybody could hear the heartbeat. The doc today did her one better and decided to wheel the portable ultrasound machine in for an impromptu, unofficial peek at U.B., with Grandma and Isaac presiding. In short, everything looked GREAT -- we could see 10 beautiful toes, a happy, healthy heart, ribs, vertebra, even a full bladder. Of course we are going in for our official ultrasound soon, but this was an awesome preview. We even got pictures...

Here's is a great one of U.B. all curled up in the snug little cave. You can see the head on the left and two perfectly formed, crossed legs on the right:



The doc kept trying to get a face shot of U.B., but this is the best you get: a profile of the head, pointed upwards, on the left, with an arm punching through just below the chin:



And here's U.B.'s hiney. Cheeks are pointed to the right, with thighs going off to the left:


Kind of hard to tell from this angle, but after the typical spiel (blah blah, don't paint your nursery yet, blah blah), what we saw today was fun enough for me to announce, as my mommy-senses had suspected all along...

U.B. is a girl.