Yesterday I had my 4th ultrasound at 16 weeks and 5 days. The tech took her time and showed me everything she was looking at. She started by measuring both of their heads and bellies and femur bones. I haven't seen many ultrasounds aside from my own so being able to actually see the bones on the screen, as if it were an x-ray, was super weird and cool and fascinating. I don't know why but I didn't realize you'd be able to see the bones. At the 11 week ultrasound they actually looked like babies but you couldn't see any organs or bones or anything. But now their skin is so translucent there were many times were I had no idea what I was looking at until she told me because you're seeing past their skin and form at that point.
She pointed out both of their bladders - little black blobs on the screen. She zoomed in on their hearts and let me see them pump in-out in-out in-out before letting me hear the whir-whir-whir of their heartbeats on the monitor - 138 & 142 beats per minute. I asked her if their heartbeats would be lower now. They were in the 160s last time. She said anywhere from 120-160 is healthy so they should stay in that range. Seeing their hearts move was so insane. All I can liken it to is a jelly fish when it pulls itself in and them blooms out, but at a rapid pace. She showed me the membrane between the two placentas and measured the fluid sacks in each placenta.
Baby B was super active the entire time. She was kicking her little feet and waving her hands all over as if to say "Hi, Mom!" when we zoomed in a little closer on her. It was hard for the tech to get a good picture of her because she just wouldn't sit still. She was able to get a picture of her face when she turned slightly... and she looks like Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy 2. (#WeAreGroot) I died laughing when the image to the left was frozen on the screen. The tech assured me her forehead would be smoothed out when she comes out in a couple months.
She pointed out both of their bladders - little black blobs on the screen. She zoomed in on their hearts and let me see them pump in-out in-out in-out before letting me hear the whir-whir-whir of their heartbeats on the monitor - 138 & 142 beats per minute. I asked her if their heartbeats would be lower now. They were in the 160s last time. She said anywhere from 120-160 is healthy so they should stay in that range. Seeing their hearts move was so insane. All I can liken it to is a jelly fish when it pulls itself in and them blooms out, but at a rapid pace. She showed me the membrane between the two placentas and measured the fluid sacks in each placenta.
Baby B was super active the entire time. She was kicking her little feet and waving her hands all over as if to say "Hi, Mom!" when we zoomed in a little closer on her. It was hard for the tech to get a good picture of her because she just wouldn't sit still. She was able to get a picture of her face when she turned slightly... and she looks like Baby Groot from Guardians of the Galaxy 2. (#WeAreGroot) I died laughing when the image to the left was frozen on the screen. The tech assured me her forehead would be smoothed out when she comes out in a couple months.
She got two good profile pictures. Baby B still likes to keep her hand above her nose when she's relaxing. Baby A was asleep and wasn't interested in our agenda. The tech bounced the wand on my stomach a couple times to see if she would respond and she wasn't having it. (Check out the spine on that girl! Crazy!)
At the end of the ultrasound she told me the placenta walls were both on my back side. I asked her if that was good. She said it just meant there wasn't as much of a buffer between them and my skin on my belly so I would be able to feel their movements quicker than I would if the placenta wall was against my belly. I haven't felt anything yet but I am excited to feel them in the coming weeks. Baby A is resting on the lower right side of my stomach and Baby B is on my left side. Their heads are next to each other somewhere around my belly button but Baby A is face down and Baby B is face up. She said they both weight 5 ounces which is very good. I couldn't remember what my pregnancy app said they should weigh at this stage so I consulted it after I left the doctor's office. It said babies should weigh 3.5 ounces in week 16 and 5 ounces in week 17 so I guess I don't have to worry about them being small! They are right on track. My app said they were the size of avocados last week and they'll be the size/length of turnips next week.
My next ultrasound will be in 4 weeks and will be a full anatomy scan. She said they'll make sure everything is growing in proportion and that they weigh where they should for 20 weeks. My doctor called me last night around 6:20. I was surprised to get a call from him that late. My first thought was that something might be wrong. He said my girls are growing right on track and everything looks great. I'm glad he cares enough to call me same day even when there isn't really anything to report. My next wellness check is next Friday.
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