First Ultrasound!

We had our first real doctor's appointment today. Aaron met me at the doctor's office at 2:30, and we waited in the waiting room for about 10 minutes. They called me back, I peed in a cup, they took my blood pressure (90/58), and then we waited for an hour in this inner waiting room before they took us back! I hope that is no indication of what is going to happen when I go into labor! The doctor called us back into his office to chat with us about our pregnancy and the risks I have with mine in particular. I won't go into a lot of detail, but they have some concern about my cervix. This just means I'll have to get two extra ultrasounds than I normally would to check cervical length and make sure it is ok and that I'm not developing cervical incompetency. Unfortunately I don't get two extra peaks at baby during this time though. The other concern they have is with my back, which I think most of us expected. The doctor said with so many of my vertebrae fused, and still having hardware in there, I have basically a 0% chance of getting an epidural. In some ways this is ok, because I wanted a natural child birth anyway. They are still going to send me to meet with the anesthesiologist at 36 weeks though so s/he can check my x-rays so they know if it is ruled out all together. The reason the doctor is still concerned about this is in the case I need to get an emergency c-section, because they'll still need to give me a spinal. So, I'll go get it checked out so they can come up with a plan before the labor starts so Baby Luther comes into the world as quickly and carefully as possible.

Then the doctor took me back and performed my annual exam and then asked Aaron to come in. The ultrasound was amazing! I knew right away where the baby was and how it was oriented. We were so excited to see it! I wish I had a video of it so badly to post for everyone to see. The best part for me was seeing the heart beat. I was so panicked about that. We got to listen to it too, and it sounded good. Lil Luther had two very distinct legs that, at one point, were just kicking away! We got a little swimmer on our hands! We joked when we got home that s/he is getting ready for the Tour de France. haha! Here is the picture:
Sorry it is kind of blurry, but that is how it looks for us. He took so many pictures, but only gave us this one! The bottom is the head, s/he is facing left. The triangle floating in space on the top is his or her little leg!

I guess it's legit now! Aaron and I need to start getting our house ready for baby. I'll be sending emails out to new parents, but if anyone has advice on must-haves, we'd love to know!