Latest Ultrasound and Pics

We had our 26-week ultrasound on Thursday, and then I met with my doctor today to discuss the findings. Overall the results were very positive. The two main things I've prayed about for this sonogram were (1) that the baby would grow well and (2) that we wouldn't find any new abnormalities. I can honestly say that God has heard and answered our prayers, because both of those prayers came true!

After talking with my doctor today, we have a little investigating to do because it appears that we are dealing with 2 different sets of measurements - one from the ultrasound machine and one from the computer system. Each is spitting out a different "percentage" for the measurements they are capturing, making it difficult to do an apples-to-apples measurement to track the baby's growth. For example, the baby's femur (leg) bone measurement was found to be in the 6th percentile last time, which is considered a soft marker for Down Syndrome. This time, her measurement on the ultrasound machine said 8th percentile, while on the computer system it was 18th percentile. Obviously there is a discrepancy there and we need to make sure we are using consistent formulas to track her growth, but in either case her measurement went up, so it's definitely a plus! But that's one thing we'll be looking into for future measurements. The baby's humerus (arm) bone measurement appeared to decrease this time from 34th percentile to 13th percentile, but we won't know the significance of this until we can find out where those numbers came from for the apples-to-apples comparison. (Down Syndrome babies typically have shorter arm and leg measurements, so it's just one of the many things they can track by ultrasound.)

Because of the baby's 2-vessel umbilical cord, we will be continuing with frequent ultrasound scans throughout the rest of the pregnancy. Most 2-vessel cord babies are fine, but it's just something the doctors (and parents!) like to track to make sure the growth is continuing as expected. We're scheduled for another ultrasound at 30 weeks, and then we'll get scans and additional tests each 1-2 weeks thereafter.

So that's all the technical stuff. I just want to thank our friends and family for the ongoing prayers on our baby girl's behalf. I'm convinced the prayers work miracles, so please keep them coming! Below are the latest pics of the baby.

Here is a frontal face view (looking smooshed!) with forehead on the left and chin on the right.

Here she is making a fist, these are her knuckles.
Here are her fingers outstretched in an L-shape.

And here's a facial profile with her nose pointing up and her hand off to the right side.

One last facial profile. The ultrasound specialist tried really hard to get a cute 3-d shot of her face, but she was being camera shy and wouldn't stay still for the picture!