12-week doctor's appt. and ultrasound

Ben and I went to our 12-week appointment and ultrasound yesterday. It was great! First the ultrasound - got in the chair, pulled up my shirt, got squirted with some gel, and it was on! Once she found BL, we could totally tell it was a baby - no longer a gummy bear or peanut looking thing. Complete and total love! A real baby! At first BL looked like it wasn't moving much, and the ultrasound tech was taking various measurements. Then all of a sudden, you can see two little legs just kick out super fast. Kick, kick, kick!! (Future soccer player in the making!) Then back to being still. The tech kept doing her measurements and pointing out all the features (we could make some out on our own, some we couldn't). After a while, BL was being stubborn (knowing it's father, that's not surprising....), so she'd use the wand and push on my belly a little bit and then BL would move some in reaction. I loved it! Here are some photos:

This first one shows BL with its head down and to the right, stretched out, legs to the top left. You can make out both hands too! This is the best shot by far.

This is a shot of baby in the same position, but turned a little bit so you can see the spine. Legs are stretched out again. Very cool! This is a shot of baby waving! Yes, if you look closely you can see a tiny hand, four fingers and a thumb...

We met with the doctor after the ultrasound and just did blood pressure, weight, etc. I gained 4 lbs. my first trimester - right on track. Normal weight gain the first trimester is anywhere between 3-5 lbs., so I'm good to go. She went over the measurements the ultrasound tech took and everything looks great! BL did measure at about 13 weeks, even though I was just at 12 weeks, but the doctor said that this ultrasound is not generally the most accurate, so no change in due date. Last thing was a finger prick and blood spotting test. Five small spots of blood on paper, which constitutes our first genetic screening. The blood results combined with some of the measurements the tech took either indicate a higher risk of certain diseases (namely Downs Syndrome), which may or may not call for additional testing down the road. Next appt. is Dec. 17. It'll be a fast appt., just one blood draw for more genetic screening, my vitals and listening to baby's heartbeat. Next ultrasound will be mid-January at 20 weeks. We're supposed to bring a DVD so they can record the ultrasound - we are super excited for that one!

Ben and I concluded the best part of yesterday was watching the baby kick around so much. I'm shocked that I can't feel a thing - BL is really having a party in there! Must be all the Mexican food I've been eating and craving. Oh yea, we are also both feeling like this is a boy. Up until yesterday, I really thought it was a girl, but those long chicken legs look too much like Daddy's legs to belong to a girl....unless she turns out to be 6'2" or something. And the baby is really stubborn - didn't move on queue - stubborn like Daddy.....and probably just as cute!