NuMom2B Study Visit Two

I wasn't as nervous for the second study visit as I was for the first.  I know what was going to happen, and this study visit pretty much followed the last one.  I think the reason I was nervous was because I was going to find out what we were having, boy or girl.

When I got there, I had to give my urine sample, and then do the vaginal swabs.  No big deal.  After that they took two vials of blood, and luckily I got the same nurse as last time, so I didn't have to reexplain my stupid veins!

After the blood work, they asked me a whole bunch of questions, some of which were repeats from my last visit.  They asked about my racial background, my husbands racial background, and then the background of each of our biological parents.  (Which quite honestly seemed silly to me, as if my background came from someplace other than my biological parents)

Then came the fun part: the ultrasound!  They found the heartbeat quickly and measured that.  Then they determined the baby had two hands and two feet, a head and other things.  I'm not sure what all they were looking for or at, I just stared at the image of my baby on the screen.  They kept saying things like "There's his hands" or "He's being so stubborn."  I thought that was how they were going to tell me what my baby was, by referring to the baby with pronouns.

But then the tech moved down to the baby's bottom, and she said "It's definitely a girl!" and I was floored.  A baby girl!  So much for a mothers intuition!

After we found out what we were having, the tech used the ultrasound to measure the blood flow in both of my arteries that flow to the baby.  She turned on the blood flow part of the ultrasound, and I could see the red and blue on the screen that showed my blood pumping.  It was a really neat experience.

Then I had to have a vaginal ultrasound to measure the length of my cervix.  They didn't tell me what it was, but they didn't look like I was in immediate danger either, so I was ok with that.

After all the ultrasounds were done, I was weighed, and had my blood pressure taken.  Then I was asked more questions regarding how I handle stress and conflict.  All in all, not an unpleasant hour.

I also got a dvd of the ultrasound, and a bunch of pictures to bring home.