20 Week Ultrasound (Anatomy Scan)
Today we had Muffin's anatomy scan. This is typically done around 20 weeks gestation. I am 20 weeks + 6 days today. (Gavin's anatomy scan was done at 21 weeks + 3 days). It is standard procedure for IVF patients to be scanned at the perinatal center downtown, so that's where we had this appointment. The ultrasound tech was friendly and explained what we were seeing as she completed the scan and captured photos of the important features. We looked closely at the baby's brain, heart, bladder, and kidneys. She measured the baby's femur, head circumference, and belly circumference. From these measurements, Muffin is estimated to weigh exactly one pound! This is the same weight estimate we had for Gavin at his anatomy scan. We also learned that the placenta is attached at the top of my uterus (which is just fine) and saw that there is good blood flow between the placenta, umbilical cord, and baby.
Many people choose to find out the sex of the baby at the anatomy scan. We are choosing not to know the sex of this baby until birth, just like we did with Gavin. Before the ultrasound, we made sure the ultrasound tech knew our wishes. She had us look away when she zoomed in on the lower abdomen and reproductive organs so that we wouldn't see anything that would give it away. When she was finished with that area, she said, "I documented the gender so it's safe for you to look now." Of course we're anxious to know if Muffin is a girl or a boy, but finding out Gavin's gender at birth was the best surprise and we want to repeat that experience.
We will have another scan in 4 weeks to look even more closely at Muffin's heart. The tech said that everything looked great today, so there is no reason to expect to see anything concerning on that scan. It is simply standard procedure for IVF patients to have the echo ultrasound at 24 weeks.
My next OB appointment is Wednesday, February 19 and will include the glucose test to screen for gestational diabetes. And our echo ultrasound will be Friday, February 21. So our February appointments are more exciting than the monthly OB appointments have been thus far.
We didn't get as many photos of Muffin as we did of Gavin at this ultrasound, but we got to watch Muffin dance and bounce and squirm around for almost an hour. And we did get a couple of cute profile photos!