Ultrasound, Part III or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Trust Charts

I didn't get into this in my last ultrasound post, mostly because it didn't come to light until after I hit "publish post," but at the time we got that ultrasound, our doctor decided that not only wasn't our baby too small, but we were cursed by a condition I will hitherto refer to as Mega-Baby. She thought this was a pretty big deal, in a not-very-good sense, so she referred us to a specialist at our hospital to see just how Mega this Baby is.

This, of course, had us a bit concerned, although not overly so. Big babies run in my family. I was 8 lbs 4 oz (around 85 percentile); my dad was 9 lbs 11 oz (I think that's what my mom told me. If so, that's well above the 90 percentile). Hollie had crazy long legs as an infant, and given that the weight they come up with in utero is based on various length measurements, it's possible the weight they gave us wasn't even accurate.

But any referral to a specialist makes you feel a little uneasy, especially in the hours leading up to the visit. What if the baby really IS too big? What then? What if there's too much amniotic fluid, another worry foisted on us by the last ultrasound? Lots of what ifs, and not many answers.

So it was with some concern that we visited the hospital today. We also didn't know exactly what the exam would entail. Pretty much the only things we've experienced up to this point have been ultrasounds and dopplers. What else is there? It turns out that there's not much else. Unless you count an ultrasound tech with several decades of experience. And it turns out that makes a big difference.

Long story short, everything is absolutely fine. The tech was super-nice and explained absolutely everything she was measuring as she measured it. Transverse cranial view, lateral cranial view, kidneys, heart, spine, brain, etc. The only thing out of the ordinary? When she began measuring the legs, and I quote, "Wow! Those are some really long legs!"

Presuming the weight estimates they use hold true for a girl with very long legs, our daughter is currently 3 lbs, 11 oz (1673 grams for you metric folk). According to this handy chart, that places her just above the 75 percentile, and well within the normal range. Man, I love charts.
The lesson learned here? The medical establishment, like any other field of study, involves just as much guesswork as hard fact. You do the best you can, make the recommendations you think are right, and try not to freak out the people you're trying to help. Although that last part is less a lesson for me, and more a lesson for anyone currently involved in the medical profession. You hear that, guys? Stop freaking me out!

As with any ultrasound, though, it means I have more pictures to share. Here's one one of her face in profile. While we were watching the tech take this picture, the baby open and closed her mouth a few times. It was pretty cool, although Hollie seems to think she was yelling at us to stop taking her picture. Ask her to do her impression of the kid. I'm sure that won't embarrass her at all. Then, as the tech was trying to get a look at Hollie's anatomy, the baby stuck her foot right in the path of the wand. Watch out! Mega-Baby foot!

Good times.