I Thought This Kind of Love Was Only In Fairytales

I've loved my little girl from the moment I knew I was pregnant.  Hell, probably even before then.  How could I not?  She's my creation and very much a part of me.  I couldn't imagine feeling otherwise.  How was I supposed to know that that love was just the tip of the love iceberg?  I really had no idea how much more love I had in me until last Tuesday on January 15.  You see, that was when I had my 4-D ultrasound where I got the chance to see little Piper in detail for the very first time.  What a remarkable technology!  The ability to see your child in the womb and see what they actually look like, it's just plain magical.  As I lay there on the technician's table with the ultrasound wand moving across my belly, I fell in love with my daughter 100 times more than before.  Seeing her little hands and cheeks and eyes and mouth and nose and everything else,...well it was just flat-out breathtaking!  I cannot stop looking at her pictures and I've been thinking about her nonstop.  I cannot even concentrate on my job!  If this is how I feel now, can I even hope to survive the love explosion once she is actually in my arms?

This entry I'm dedicating to my precious Piper Amelia, not that each and every one of my entry's isn't directly related to her in some way.  But this one is her showcase, her debut, her step into the spotlight.  For this one is where she comes to life for you all, as a little girl and not just as a fuzzy black and white picture of a somewhat human looking entity.  I hope you all enjoy her as much as I do.

Meet Piper Amelia

In this picture you can see her big, pouty, gorgeous lips.  I wish the umbilical cord hadn't been in the way of her right eye, but we were lucky to get her to move her hands away from her face.

My Angel

She is very cozy and snuggly already

I'll get back to some more pictures towards the end, but for now I want to move into video clips of the actual ultrasound session.  It was quite a long video at first, but I've broken it down into shorter segments for convenience.  Above each one I'll include a little description of what you are about to see.  Unfortunately there is no sound with the videos, although we were talking with the technician and she was explaining things to us the entire time.  I'll do my best to convey the gist of what was going on during each video.

Our first look at Piper was of her covering her face with a completely open right hand.  As a matter of fact, she was quite prone to covering her face with her hands.  The Tech said seeing the open hand was a good sign for it ruled out Trisomoy 19, a form of Down Syndrome.  It is always nice to hear good news.  This video also shows off her chubby cheeks once her hand is out of the way.  The tech says chubby cheeks on a newborn usually indicates they will be a good nurser.

This next video shows off her gorgeous profile.  Isn't she a doll?  Also you will see the black and white ultrasound images of the tech checking her spine.  It  is long and perfectly formed which also rules out spina bifida and/or other spinal abnormalities.

This next one is just another cute look at my precious girl.  If I have my videos correct, the tech will run the white arrow along the umbilical cord which just casually floats around Piper in her little womb world.  It was in a good position as to not make us have to worry about any dangers of her tangling up in it.  Notice Piper's right hand curled up by her face.  The tech said this is a choice she is making and will continue this outside the womb.  In other words, I need to make sure she wears mittens to keep herself from scratching her face and I shouldn't ever try to swaddle that right arm as it will make her quite upset.

 

Okay, on to the heart.  In this video the tech is maneuvering to get a look at all four chambers of the heart to make sure they are all functioning properly, are the right size, and the heart is in the correct location within the chest.  Everything was perfect!  She also checked her heart rate which was 152 bpm, which is also the rate it should be.  In the last part of the video the tech checks on her stomach and kidneys to make sure they both contain fluids.  The stomach is the black hole on the left of the screen and the kidneys are the two black holes on the right.  Both had fluids which means Piper is swallowing and passing amniotic fluid without any problems.  She could survive if born early, which is definitely a relief at this point just in case.  Although I know no just in cases are necessary.

This fifth video once again shows how Piper loves to hide her pretty face with that right hand.  I figure she wants a big debut when entering the world so is giving just enough to leave us wanting more.  Also, more importantly, in the black and white segment the tech is checking her umbilical cord.  We were delighted to find out that she does actually have two arteries in her cord.  Our initial ultrasounds with the high risk doctor indicated she only had one and it was a bit of a concern even though she didn't show any signs of developing differently because of her unique cord.  Well now we know that was all a mistake and her cord is completely normal.  The tech points out the one vein and two arteries a few different times just to make sure.  She also checks the umbilical cord attachment at the belly button to make sure it wasn't leaking.  Everything looked spot on.  The last portion of the clip shows her positioning of her left arm around her tushy.  She enjoys curling up in a ball, which is completely by choice as she has plenty of room to move around at this point.  Tech said she would probably be extra cuddly because of her choice to get into a wad.  I'm all for extra cuddly!

In this next clip you finally get a pretty good look at her sweet little face.  Her umbilical cord is floating around in front of her, but her hand is down for the time being.  Don't mind all the bouncing around during the  black and white portions from here on out, that's just the tech shaking my belly with the ultrasound wand trying to either get Piper to change positions or the umbilical cord to move out of the way.  Don't worry, it doesn't hurt her!  It is kind of funny to watch, however.  The last part of this clip is oh so important as it once again proves that she is a girl!  Yes, I held my breath during this part.  I was terrified they'd find boy parts and then her whole nursery, which is totally not refundable due to the fact it's all hand crafted special pieces, would be a very expensive waste of girlyness.  Luckily she only had her girly parts and I could breathe once more!

Only a few more clips to go.  I know you want more, but it's all I have for now.  This next one just once again shows her stubborn side with wanting to cover her pretty little face with her hands.  It also shows the tech arrowing over her bald head.  The tech said she probably has a little bit of fine hair on her scalp, but not a whole lot.  In a lot of the still pics it looks like she has a ton of dark hair, but that is just shadows as you can tell from the video.

Clip number eight, this is a funny one.  You have to keep your eyes open and watch closely, but after all the jiggling and trying to get her to put her arms down, she finally gives the camera the bird at about one minute in.  Yep, she's just like her mother!  After that she finally moves her hands down and out of the way.  Once again she shows off her chubby cheeks, stunning pout, and down right gorgeousness!

And the final clip for the moment, here it is.  This one is short but gives us all a pretty darn good look at her without too much in the way.  I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled I am that she's so adorable already and that all her parts are normal and no abnormalities or growth issues were found.  She is perfect in every way, and I couldn't be happier.

Here are a few of her other stats at the time of the ultrasound.  She weighed about 3.2lbs and was measuring an entire week ahead as she has done from the beginning.  The technician said even though her due date is not until April 10th, she would say April 3rd is more likely based on her size.  By the way, she was 27 weeks and 6 days at the time of the ultrasound.  If she continues to grow on her same track, she will most likely be between 8.5-9lbs if she hangs in there till her due date.  In all, she is in the top 79th percentile for her size at this point.  Another cool thing is the length of her legs.  Here is where she shines!  I ordered me a tall girl, and that is what I got.  Her legs were extremely long and measured in the 98th percentile based on her femur measurements.  Her daddy is 6'4" and all the women in his family are 5'10", so I imagine she will have some lovely, lengthy gams on her when she grows up.   Because she was trying to hide her face with both her hands and feet at one point, you probably noticed her feet up in her face in a couple of the clips. That just goes to show how long her legs are at this point.

Okay, well I'll wrap this entry up with the rest of her ultrasound pics.  They are all not perfect, but they all give some perspective into what she looks like.  I hope you enjoy them as I cannot stop looking at them on a a daily basis.

And last but not least, I forgot I had uploaded a short clip of the ultrasound to Youtube.  I cannot remember what all is on it, but believe it is from the last five minutes of the session.  Anyway, I guess that means we all get to enjoy it at the same time!

Well, I think I have finally run out of video clips and pictures for the time being.  I'm still in wonderment at the
technology now available to us mothers.  It has been a joy to be able to share all of it with my family who all had their families way before any of this technology came around.  The biggest joy, however, is just simply seeing my unborn daughter and her beautiful face, knowing that in less than three months I will finally be holding her in my arms.  It's going to be difficult to wait that long, but it will be the best moment of my life when it finally happens.

Till next time, as always, feel free to follow Piper and I on a daily basis on Facebook.  Also, please take a moment if you would and vote for us on Top Baby Blogs by clicking the banner below.