Week 16 and the dreaded Amnio

Here I am at Kaiser checking in for my amniocentesis. I was more than nervous since the baby book said that the needle was 7 inches long.

The nurse that sat down with us was so nice - she assured me that it wasn't that bad. When we got into the room, it was dark and soothing and Dr. Hall was very accomodating. She answered our questions about the needle, why we didn't need a local anesthetic and that she'd let me know before the needle went in. (In fact, she didn't, which was probably a good thing - so I wouldn't tense up.)

First, they took ultrasounds of Baby G and we saw the baby moving around. Oh, so cute - my heart just tugged a bit. When they were poking my belly to find safe areas with large pockets of fluid, the baby moved around - it was so amazing. We saw the heart beat again. The nurses were oohing at how cute the baby was already - of course AG and I could only see a skeleton of a baby - but it had really cute little movements and the belly is AG's... heehee, had to get a dig in there since I had to have the needle.
There's a cute sideways picture of Baby G looking right at the ultrasound and checking us out as if to say hi. The sideways profile of Baby G is your normal profile - I think they took more pictures because they were so nice and they knew it was our first. The first picture, Baby G has its hands up near its face - adorable.

At one point when the needle went in, the baby scrambled around a bit as if to get away from the poking. The experience itself was not anywhere as bad as I had thought. I did feel the needle go through me, but it was sharp and fast. AG was great, holding my hand the entire time. I'm not usually such a big baby, but needles freak me out.

They took measurements of Baby G - 5 ounces and about 5 inches. Per the report, the baby's right on schedule - meaning that my due date is correct - give or take a day. Doesn't mean that Baby G won't come out early or late, just that according to the measurements, the due date is correct.


Ag and I were so happy. The last time we saw Baby G on an ultrasound was when it was 8 weeks, just a little bean with a beating heart. Now that its fully formed, with human baby movements and possible character, we are one step closer in believing that we made this little human life. Our next ultrasound is April 12th - 2 weeks and 2 days from today.