'D' is for Difficult!

Today was that day I've been waiting for. The day I got to go meet my little guy in 4D! I was so excited. I couldn't wait to get a good glimpse of him, and to be awarded the opportunity to meet him just a little early. That is until today, when I found out the 'D' in 4D stands for Difficult!

The little guy who was so 'photogenic' and 'cooperative' at our last ultrasound (direct quotes from the last ultrasound tech), did NOT want to be bothered today. He began the session with his face smooshed up against my placenta and uterus and topped it off with his hand in front of his face, sucking his thumb. None of which made for a clear picture. At one point he even turned his back completely on us. I offered to do cartwheels down the hall to get him stirred up a little. I think the ultrasound tech was afraid I might actually do it (I would've had she said it was OK!) She did let me take a potty break and walk the halls a little, neither of which made a big difference. I tried laying on my right side, on my left side, on my tummy, sitting up, laying in an inverted position, and even tried drinking cold water. He responded by moving around a lot, but never in a favorable way for a clear picture. We saw clear pictures of his hands, feet, limbs, and of course his genitals (definitely a boy!), but no luck seeing the face clearly.

Thankfully I had a persistent and patient ultrasound tech, who showed us everything she could make out. We saw him yawn, suck his thumb, blink his eyes, stick out his tongue, move his arms and legs around, and nuzzle safely inside me. Finally, after a good 1.5 hours, (yes, 90 minutes) we were able to get some decent glimpses of Mr. Difficult himself. That's right, he finally turned toward us a little and let us marvel at how precious he is. The pics are still not as clear as some that I've seen, but after 90 minutes, it was the best we got!

He almost looks like he's smiling here.

The best picture of the day. You can make him out clearly there on the left, eyes closed, head down a bit. On the right is either placenta or uterus (I don't know how to tell one from the other like the ultrasound tech could!) While it may seem the black spots on the top of his head look like he's got a full head of hair, that's just an area where the ultrasound beam was going through his skull instead of bouncing back the image.

The ultrasound tech tried so hard for me to get a good picture. By the time she was done, she had over 70 pics, though not all very good ones. She put the whole session on DVD for me, and remarked how generally, they only give about 15 pics (assuming the baby is more cooperative and the pics are better in the first place). She also said she hadn't had one that difficult in a very long time. So it's nice to see this little one will already have one thing in common with his older siblings...stubbornness!

Oh, and I had to ask because I didn't know - the difference between 3D and 4D: 3D is a still picture, 4D is with movement.

So here is a 4D glimpse of my little one. Happy viewing!