It's time for the BIG ultrasound! Between 20 and 24 weeks the base does the Level II ultrasound to check baby out and look for any defects, etc. Now they're also doing gender determination (which they wouldn't do here when I was pregnant with Heron so we went to Hachinohe!)

Matt was just put on a strange, temporary nighttime schedule. He is sort of awake during the day, but not really up for going out and about. So he stayed home with the boys and relaxed, waiting to go back to bed when I returned. As it turned out, the clinic changed their policy and doesn't even allow husbands to hang out during the ultrasound session anyway (except for at the very end to see the gender.)

Baby was breach today and moving around a lot! So far, all Level II ultrasounds I've had have been really uncomfortable. It's not just the pushing with that little wand, it's like the baby doesn't like it and thrashes around uncomfortably. We talked about that a little bit in our Bradley classes some time ago about how there's evidence that ultrasounds are bothersome and potentially harmful to the fetus. Anyhow, I'm pretty comfortable most of the time, but Baby didn't seem to happy and was jabbing me/the wand a lot. I even needed a break from it all at one point!

The ultrasound tech showed me around all the exciting parts. She can't tell me if things are good or bad, but at least it seems that everything is there! We saw fingers (thumbs up!) and toes, nostrils, heart beat, all that good stuff. Baby was running away and hiding a bit when she was trying get a good image of the heart chambers, so we spent quite some time working on that and didn't really wind up with a good shot. 

Today marks 20 weeks for me, but I know from our earlier ultrasound that maybe I'm a just little farther along. I was told today that I'm actually measuring at 21 weeks 1 day, which would put my adjusted due date at April 17th. I'm still sticking with the 25th. I don't want doctors to start getting on my case one week past the 17th that I'm late and need to be induced. We'll just see when Baby wants to come. It is excited to hear that it all may happen a little sooner than I thought, though!

Well, we saw more than just fingers and toes. When it came time to check out if I'm cooking a boy or a girl, Baby was splayed proudly and there was absolutely no question about it. 

It's a ..

Another! I will be so outnumbered! Some people react like they think we're disappointed that we aren't having a girl. No disappointment here! A girl would have been a fun, different experience of course. I love having boys, though, and we all ready have tons of boy things – clothes, toys, books! So another boy will be easier on our bank account! And we know what to do with boys. I'm all ready! We've been through all these boy things (well, at least up to age 2-1/2!) and know just how to handle it all! Hahah! Plus, our boys are just too adorable and how can I resist having another super cute little boy toddling around the house?! I'm so excited! On the down side, we do need to find a name that we like. We've been using up our favorite boy names and at this point naming a girl would have been easier!

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