Our little girl... the one with the pretty cerebellum

We had a sonogram done yesterday on the "big" machine... apparently this machine can do 3D images, because we got a few images of the baby's face - something we'd never had before. While those are cool, they are also kind of weird looking because we could not get a straight shot of her face. She kept hiding her face and putting her arm in front of her face, and then burying her face into the placenta. (The tech called her a little snuggler!). But still, you can get somewhat of an idea of what her face looks like from these pictures:

Here's a 2D picture of her lying on her back:

The reason we had this particular sonogram was for a follow-up anatomy scan. The first anatomy scan at 17 weeks didn't give us enough information, particularly about the heart. The tech examined the heart and said everything looked great. She was particularly interested in the baby's brain and said a few times "What a pretty little cerebellum!" We thought that was a funny thing to say. So did the doctor - he was in there with us, pointing out things for us on the screen as the tech did the sonogram. The tech also pointed out that the baby has hair on her head - that was kind of neat. At one point we saw her swallowing amniotic fluid. Baby weighs exactly 2 pounds right now, and is measuring just right.

So, everything looks good. They weren't able to measure my cervix because the baby was in the way, but at this point, the dr said they aren't as worried about that as they are preterm labor. I've got instructions for what to do if I start having any kind of contractions - and other things to watch for that could indicate preterm labor. But so far, I don't have any symptoms of it. I will do my glucose testing (to check for gestational diabetes) this week. Maybe Friday.

Our first childbirth class on Monday was good, but a little surreal, because we took a tour of Labor & Delivery, and that was the first time we had been back to hall and rooms where we were when we went last spring with Zach. But, I'm glad we got to do this now, instead of when this baby is born, so it won't be a shock. And, the tour/class was very helpful and informative - I kept thinking, "wow, all this would have been so helpful to know all this last time around!" Anyway, we will go back the next 4 Monday nights in a row. So far we think the class is great and well worth our time.

We are feeling pretty good about the pregnancy, and are SO close to picking out a name. So I thought it was ironic that I had a bad dream last night - I dreamed I started bleeding and even though I know that that does not necessarily mean we will lose the baby (although it did mean that last time), in my dream that was what it meant. I woke up a little upset and confused, but I am ok. It helps to go in the nursery and see the crib and bedding all set up... soon I will post a picture of what it looks like.

Hmm, what else... Have I mentioned before that we love our doctor?? :) I love how he always asks how we're feeling about things, and then how he always says if I ever have a question or concern, to call him, even if it's something that he's already told us is not a problem but we're still worried. We both really hope he is the one that will deliver this baby. (side note: he also has a good sense of humor. Yesterday he commented that I'm getting almost as big as my chart. Everyone in the office likes to tease me about how big my chart is...)