Tah-Dahhh!!!!

Yesterday, we loaded up the fam -- both kids and my parents -- into the MV and went to a place called Vision of Life and proceeded to thoroughly invade Swimmer's privacy.


Now, I feel like this is the 50th ultrasound I've had, but really, it's only the 4th. I've already had on 3D-4D, but it's a little different having one done in a sterile doctor's office (although the tech and the doctor were both very nice and gave us pretty pictures). This time, we were able to sit back and relax and just check out Swimmer's behavior in his (or her -- we still don't know) natural habitat.


At first, he/she wouldn't move his/her hands, so it was difficult to get a good shot. (For the record, referring to the baby as a he/she makes me a little uncomfortable, but I guess that's my own fault, eh?)





And here he is, in all of his/her smiling glory. If the weirdness of this photo freaks you out, do not fret. It totally freaks me out, but I like it because he/she is mine.


That crazy stuff around his/her head is the placenta, in which he/she totally likes to burrow his/her head. That thing that could be mistaken for something gender-specific is actually the umbilical cord, which he/she also digs.


Both of these fascinations concern me a little, considering the placenta and cord deliver vital stuff to the kid, but I've been reassured that it's alright. Apparently, God figured the kids might play with that stuff and made both pretty durable.


I will say that Swimmer is currently pretty much folded in half, which was the case with Ethan... so I'm expecting him/her to be of decent size.


I will also say that K and I were kind of taken aback to see how much Swimmer resembles Ethan at birth. We have a picture of E, taken a few weeks after his birth, that we call the "Mad Monkey" picture.


(E spent a good bit of his first months looking like an angry gorilla. Fortunately, he outgrew this.)


Anyway, at one point, Swimmer ducked out from behind his placental hiding place, and my mouth dropped open.


He looks so much like E in the Mad Monkey picture... minus the scowl.


We did confirm that it looks like Baby Swimmer may look more like me (and the other two kids)... as the ultrasound man said, "The baby has a nice broad nose."


Thanks. Like I need any encouragement to be a little insecure about my appearance at this point.


Anyway, he/she has Toad's nose and what appears to be my lips. Since both of the other bambinos are blessed with K's beautiful eyes, I think Swimmer may be, too.


K was not surprised to find this out, although we were both secretly hoping this one would look like him. Not that having three miniature Toads is bad, but I wanted people to say, "Wow! He/she looks so much like K!" instead of "Wow! Your kids look so much like you!" or "That has to be Ken's grandchild! He/She looks just like him!" (Ken is Toad's real name.)


Of course, years down the road, this could be a curse, especially if the kids go to school here. Since most of the teachers that had me are still teaching, the kids may automatically get preferential seating to prevent them from talking....