Have you had an ultrasound of your baby yet? I’ll never forget my first ultrasounds with either of my boys. It’s so amazing to see this little, tiny person growing inside of you. It definitely makes things hit home, as that baby becomes all the more real after seeing him or her swimming around on the ultrasound. Typically you are given a picture of the ultrasound, your very first “picture” of your baby! Since both of my pregnancies had complications, I had many ultrasounds and many chances to see them.

Typically ultrasounds are initially given when you are between sixteen to twenty weeks in your pregnancy. Sometimes they are given earlier if you are having complications in your pregnancy. Sometimes the gender of your baby (if you wish to know prior to birth) can be determined in an ultrasound, depending on how far along you are and how cooperative your baby is, although, keep in mind that is not one hundred percent accurate. With Charlie, we immediately knew he was a boy, but with Noah, we still didn’t know until he was born although the ultrasounds techs leaned towards him being a boy, so their instincts were right.

I’ve never had one of the newer 3-D or 4-D ultrasounds. They were not as common when I was pregnant with Noah and I don’t remember them being that common with Charlie either. It seems that they have become more common in the past few years. 3-D and 4-D ultrasounds are typically only given if there is the possibility of a complication with your pregnancy and your baby. Even though I’ve never had this type of ultrasound, I’ve seen a few pictures from people who have and they are really neat! These ultrasounds show a view of your baby almost as detailed as a photograph. They produce a clearer image as opposed to the grainy image of a regular ultrasound.

For more information on ultrasounds click here.

Later today, I’ll share a great scrapbooking idea for those scrappers out there using your ultrasound picture.