Jude in 3D - Take 1

Yesterday, we had an appointment for a 3D ultrasound. It was an elective one, not for diagnostic purposes, but for keepsake purposes. This facility is new since we lost Avery and the one place that did offer 3D when she was still alive wouldn't do an ultrasound for you until you were 24 weeks along. I wish so badly that we'd done that at 24 weeks with Avery. I regret that I wanted to wait until she was bigger before we paid for 3D shots of her. I would do anything to have 3D images of her face when she's alive. Not just photos of her passed away.

So, with this new facility open, taking women at 16 weeks pregnant, Daniel and I jumped on it and made an appointment. Yesterday, I was 16 weeks and 2 days. Originally it was supposed to be a gender determination ultrasound, but we were blessed enough to find that out last week, super early. But since we're so sentimental about our little boy, we kept the appointment. And Jude showed us that he already has a sense of humor.

In 2D we could see our son pretty well. He was moving somewhat but was pretty mellow. The technician checked to make sure that last week's findings were accurate. She was quick to chime in that Jude is definitely a boy! That's nice to know, since we've already started buying him lots of things and we've already registered! :)

Jude decided it would be a good idea if he laid really low, where he wasn't as visible. She was able to get his heartbeat, which never ceases to bring tears to my eyes. 162 glorious beats per minute.

If you look to the left of him in the above shot, you can see a little hand or foot. Not sure which (hand probably?), but it's so cute!!

Jude was also being silly by putting his hands over his face. So when she switched it to 3D, there wasn't much to see. But we still loved every second of it.

Here, he's putting his hand up to his face, possibly about to suck his thumb. :)

I love how you can see his ribs and his spine in this one. I think his hand is over his face too.

Then Jude flipped up onto his head, then back down onto his face and belly, and went to sleep. :) His little leg is tucked up underneath him.

This is pretty unclear because, like I mentioned earlier, Jude was laying as low as he possibly could, nestled against the placenta. Silly boy. If you can't see it, his head is at the top, facing the left. His hand is at his face, and his knees are bent with his legs pulled up toward his belly. So cute.

 

Another of the same shot.

 

And this is him from behind, laying on his belly with his legs underneath him. His head is facing to the right. You can see his little back. I just love him.

The tech was incredibly nice and answered a lot of my questions. She showed me more things than I've ever had pointed out to me at any other ultrasound. I asked her if she was able to see the cord's blood flow and the flow in the placenta. She did it for me and even let us listen to the blood flow of each. She thought they sounded great, knowing that it was blood clots that took Avery from us. She asked us if we wanted to know how much Jude weighs. No one has ever asked us that. She measured his legs and his head. Each part measured bigger than his age! According to his size, I am 17 weeks pregnant (as of yesterday). That's 5 days ahead. For me, that is HUGE. Avery was always small. They never expressed concern for some reason, but she was never ahead of my due date. The fact that Jude IS, is so SO comforting and wonderful. So, Jude is a whole whopping 5 ounces. Avery was 8.2 ounces when she was born at 25 weeks. So I think that means he's doing rather well. :)

Because Jude didn't cooperate very well, we get to come back at 18 weeks for a re-do, free of charge. That is so exciting. I can't wait to see what his little face looks like. :)