Some Disjointed Ramblings About Baby #2 and the Ultrasound

      Sunday (yesterday) marked the halfway point of our pregnancy! On Friday we had Baby #2's "big" ultrasound - you know, the one where it takes like half an hour and they check to make sure your baby has two kidneys, ten fingers, and ten toes. And also the one where you can find out the sex of your baby. All along I have said that I didn't want to know this time (since we found out with Laura) because I want to have at least one 'surprise' baby. And Josh says this is my last shot. So, although he wanted to know, I said we weren't finding out if he isn't going to let me do this again. I have also said all along that I want to have a natural birth this time, and if we find out the sex beforehand I feel like we are jinxing it. We found out with Laura, and I ended up having to have a C-section. The two are not directly correlated or anything, but I still feel like knowing the sex beforehand would take away from the natural birth experience that I so badly want.
     I must admit, although I was very excited when we found out I was pregnant this time, I have been notably less excited during the rest of the pregnancy. I feel like I am so busy and preoccupied with Laura, and life in general these days, that I often don't have much time to think about this new baby. I often get a weird feeling in my abdomen and start wondering what is wrong with me, until I remember that, oh yeah, I have another baby in there. So, I feel a bit guilty because I spent so much of my pregnancy with Laura being super excited for things like The Big Ultrasound, whereas this time, not so much. However, for the few days leading up to the ultrasound, I was looking forward to seeing the little thumper again. :)
     Once I got in there, the very first thing I told the tech was that we didn't want to know the sex of the baby. After a few minutes, I was highly tempted to ask her if she had noticed, though. But I refrained. She assured me that any gender reference she made when talking about the baby was not indicative of anything either way. And later on she said she didn't even bother looking. She took all the measurements she needed, and at 19 weeks and 5 days, the baby is measuring 20 weeks and 4 days. At this point in my pregnancy with Laura, she was measuring 4 days behind (and ended up only being 5 pounds 14 ounces at her full-term birth). So, I am hopeful that this baby will be less tiny - maybe somewhere in the 6.5 - 7.5 pound range. :) I also went and scouted out some more newborn cloth diapers before the ultrasound, which are so cute and tiny! It helped ramp up my excitement. Another thing that has helped with my excitement is the fact that Laura is starting into the terrible twos. She throws things and spits on things (enraging!) when she is mad or frustrated, both of which drive me insane. Then I go to my calm place and think about the fact that I soon will have a new baby who won't be so defiant and beligerent for another 2+ years. :)
     The ultrasound tech asked me if there was anything wrong with my pregnancy with Laura, and when I mentioned the few minor things, she specifically checked them for Baby #2 to reassure me, and said everything was looking good. No off-kilter placenta, or anything! :)
     All in all, it was very exciting to see our baby again, and even more reassuring that everything was looking well. I feel a lot more connected to the baby now, and excited, in general. Looking forward to meeting you in a few more months!

     When Josh and Laura were allowed in to see the baby, the tech tried to angle around to get a front shot of the baby's face. She warned us that they weren't very cute at this point since they don't have much fat on their faces, and then this is the shot she showed us:

 

I laughed and said it looked like Jack Skelington. Laura proceeded to say, "Funny baby!" for the next 5 minutes or so. <3 She is also convinced it is a boy. I'm positive she does not know what a 'boy' is.