(image courtesy of flickr.com)This past week, on Thursday, we had another doctor's appointment. This time we got to HEAR the babies' heartbeats for the first time. Marc tried to record the sound of it on his PDA, but when we got home we discovered it didn't work. Oh well. At the last two ultrasounds we were able to see their little hearts beating on the ultrasound monitor, but didn't hear them until now. It was really amazing!
As the doctor was identifying the heartbeats for us, I just laid there thinking how unbelievable this entire experience has been. This wasn't supposed to be possible for us. Even after having two months to let the news sink in, I'm still in shock. There really aren't words to describe how awesome it was to hear two rapid heartbeats coming from my body. The forming of life is such a miracle! The coming together of families, however they are made, is such a miracle. God is so merciful in making miracles happen in our lives.
Both heartbeats are strong and healthy. Baby B is always beating a little bit faster than Baby A. This time around Baby A was at 149bpm and Baby B was at 161bpm. They both fall into the normal range of where they should be at this point. One of Marc's all-time favorite movies is Sneakers. I mention that because when we were listening to their heartbeats, it reminded me of that part in the movie when "Whistler," the blind guy, is analyzing the distance between treads on the bridges in the Bay Area. That's kind of what their heartbeats sounded like. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? If you don't, you should rent this movie... it is really good.
We still don't know the sexes yet... but, our doctor joked that usually boys have slower heartbeats than girls, and made her early, semi-joking prediction that we have one of each. Our ultrasound technician has already made her very early prediction, too. Maybe we'll have to put up a little poll to let everyone have their say.
In answer to the question of when we'll find out what we're having: As Soon As We Possibly Can. We are anxious to know and start making preparations for their arrival. Our next ultrasound will be next week - for the prenatal genetic screening. They probably won't be able to tell by then, so I'm guessing we'll probably know at the following ultrasound, in another four weeks or so. By then I'll be at 17 weeks. That should be about the right time to know, right?
And, I just have to express our deep gratitude to all of you for your prayers, your well-wishes, your thoughtful comments... and for celebrating with us. We couldn't have been blessed with better family, friends, or blog readers. Thank you so much!!
