Emma in 3D!

Thursday, September 29th.

It's week 35 in the pregnancy. Another ultrasound is scheduled today, to check Emma's movements, breathing, heartrate, etc... So far, she's been a perfect princess in those regards! She's gotten a perfect score each time! She must have high standards already :)

Unfortunately, they aren't doing a growth scan today, so we're still on pins and needles as to whether Emma is still growing or has stopped for some reason. The fact that her vitals are good is an encouraging sign.

But, I want to share something positive that really blew our minds...

So, the ultrasound technician is doing the normal routine...

We can see black and white pictures of body parts that have a good semblance of a baby. At this point it's a lot easier to determine what's what, at least for the major parts (head, torso, arms, legs, fingers, toes, etc...).

To our shock and surprise, she basically flips a switch and the image goes from black and white baby parts, to sepia-toned full blown baby!! She turned on the 3D and it was amazing to us how clear the images became.

A rather obvious, but very pointed realization hit me...

Holy cow, there really IS a baby in there!!

Apparently, it was one small benefit to Jenn having excessive amniotic fluid. The pictures come in clearer that way. Oh, but praise the Lord, the ultrasound technician told us that her amniotic fluid levels have dropped! Last week they were measuring 36 cm, way above the 8-25 cm range. This week it was down to 26 cm! Just a hair over the range! Now, hopefully they will continue to drop or at least not go back up again for some reason!

Here is the 2D picture taken that day...

And here she is in her first professional photo shoot... Princess Emma...

Look at those big puffy cheeks! Yep, that's definitely from my side of the family! That's ok, as long as she doesn't get my "scary clown eyes". We joke about that because if I'm concentrating too hard when getting my picture taken, sometimes I hold my eyes too open and they look freakishly expressive. :)

Is that hair? The tech said she could definitely see it spiked out the back on the 2D ultrasound. I guess we'll find out soon enough!

I think this was the "Would you guys please let me get back to sleep?" gesture. To be fair though, I'm sure she'll pay us back for that in a few weeks ;)

So, some encouraging signs. Though next week is the BIG growth scan appointment. Thanks to all who have been praying for our little princess! She'll be here before we know it!