The receptionist at the radiology clinic leaned across the counter and lowered her voice.
"I'm going to tell you something, honey," she said. "I have four kids, and I had first trimester bleeding with every one of them. Four healthy kids."
The ultrasound tech squirted warm gel on my belly, touched it with the wand, and immediately said, "There's a nice heartbeat."
And there was. I saw it myself, pulsing on the screen. Over the course of the next twenty minutes or so, I saw the Niblet stretch, roll, kick, wave, rub its face, open its mouth, and wiggle. Niblet did not look even the teensiest bit peaked or lethargic. The baby is active and alive and healthy.
The views were much better than they were just two weeks ago. It also helped that this tech was helpful and talkative. She showed me everything. The three blood vessels in the umbilical cord. The kidneys, just tiny little densities in the back. The ribs, the jaws, the vertebrae, the long bones of the arms and legs. We got a lucky glimpse of five fingers on one hand.
My cervix is long (6cm, or twice as long as it needs to be in order to be called "competent") and closed. My placenta is well-positioned away from the cervix. It's in the front, though, which might explain why Kate couldn't find the heartbeat with the Doppler this morning.
Niblet continues to measure a little bit ahead, showing about two weeks' growth since my last ultrasound two weeks ago. She estimated that Niblet weighs 4oz, and measures 9cm from "crown to rump."
Niblet is the best li'l Niblet in the world. What a good baby.
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