Thursday, July 17, 2008

3D disappointment
Yesterday afternoon we had our appointment for my 3D ultrasound that was a complimentary gift from my OB's office (otherwise we would have never paid to have one done). I was pretty excited about it because it was a chance to see who Carter was going to look like. Plus, ultrasounds are kind of fun when you know that everything is alright.

This time I made sure to chug a liter of water before the appointment so that this didn't become a repeat of the 20 week ultrasound, complete with digging into my pubic bone. When we got to the office my bladder was so full that if I sneezed, I would have lost it all. I'm not kidding, either. Logan hung out with Bill while I was on the exam table, playing with his cars, stickers & flash cards. The technician was having a difficult time getting a good picture of Carter because he was in the pike position with both his hands AND his feet in his face (with his head down). She kept poking at him with the ultrasound wand trying to get him to move. "How many women have peed on your table?", I asked her. "Two. In 25 years", she replied. "Well, if we keep poking at him like this it's going to be three", I laughed. There was no moving the kid so she had me take a break & empty my bladder. Afterward I ate some food & drank some juice to get him to move some more.

We tried again with me on my side & although this time Carter got his hands & feet out of his face, he turned & hid in the placenta. She even resorted to pushing on my belly with both of her hands (it didn't hurt, but she did use some pressure to move him). We didn't get any clear pictures of him & the ones we did get were of his chin, a profile & maybe some other random parts of his face. He was/is as stubborn as both Logan & myself. That ought to make for some exciting times, huh! Although, the pictures that we did get & the glimpses that I saw on the screen, Carter seems to look more like me than Bill.

The funniest part of the whole experience was when Logan was watching the screen & said, "Monkey! Scary monkey!". "No, that's your little brother", Bill told him. I had to laugh & it was hard to stop. Good thing I had an empty bladder!

I'm glad we didn't have to pay for this because it was a complete waste of time. The technician did everything she could (& more than I thought was required) to get us some pictures. It's just the way things work out sometimes. It's not all bad though, we'll meet Carter soon enough (9 weeks & counting!).

5 comments:

COURTNEY said...

I'm so sorry to hear that's how your ultrasound turned out! I've done 3D ultrasounds with both of my pregnancies (I had complications with both that required going to a perinatologist) and they actually told me not to have a full bladder. I didn't realize this with Finn until I got in there so I kept having to get up during the ultrasound to pee. We're doing a 32 week 3D ultrasound on Wednesday, so we'll see if my little guy cooperates. I'm also excited to see if we'll be able to tell who he looks like. We had one done at 20 weeks, but he pretty much just looked like an alien then. Good luck in the next 9 weeks!

Anonymous said...

We had 2 3D ultrasounds done this last time. The first time we had the same problems you did (minus the bladder issues), so the place actually offered to do a second one free of charge. It was a four-hour drive away but totally worth it. I'm sorry this place wouldn't do the same for you, but I guess you can't argue too much for one free ultrasound.

Jaime said...

I'm sorry it didn't turn out as you'd hoped. I opted against the 3-D ones because we didn't want to know the sex and were afraid we'd somehow "see".

the nervous mom said...

I'm sorry...I'm still cracking up from the "scary monkey" comment by Logan. LOL!!!!!! He's such a riot!!!
I'm sorry that it was disappointing. But it sounds like everything is still going smoothly (as smoothly as things can go with a baby in your ribcage)..and he sounds so healthy.

Joanna said...

I hate to hear about the ultrasound. Glad that y'all weren't the ones paying for it. 9 weeks isn't that long! : )