Hello everyone! Tadpole and I had another prenatal visit this week, and everything is going well so far. Tadpole's heartbeat is still nice and strong, and he or she is moving a lot but I still can't feel it!
Our next big milestone is the anatomy scan, which will be done at the birth center's consulting obstetrician's office. The ultrasound tech will measure Tadpole from head to toe, the length of the femurs in the legs, around the belly, and around the head. These measurements will tell us if Tadpole is growing appropriately.
The four chambers of the heart will be viewed, as well as the kidneys, bladder, stomach, brain, spinal cord, sex organs, umbilical cord, and placenta. This survey of the organs ensures that they are developing normally (or identifies any potential problems as soon as possible).
The ultrasound tech will also measure the amount of amniotic fluid and determine the location of the umbilical cord and placenta. The entire ultrasound takes 30-45 minutes to get a good view of everything, and depends on how cooperative the baby is!
This ultrasound is important because it will tell us if Tadpole has any congenital health problems, and if not (which we expect), tells us that we are good to deliver at the birth center! Our ultrasound is scheduled for October 18th, when I will be 19 weeks and 1 day. We'll have our next prenatal visit two weeks after that on Halloween! I'll be sure to post pictures and maybe even video from the ultrasound when we have them.
