Belly Day!
Today was about the belly, not to mention the contents inside. I was über excited for my ultrasound today which seemed to take place at a slightly swankier lab. I had the same tech whose only mission was to look at my cervix but gave me a tour regardless. Ryden was being fussy or perhaps overly stimulated by the instrument sweeping across his shallow egg shell. The tech was unable to see the cervix due to Ry's head being in the way so she tilted my chair back so I was nearly upside down to get him to lay off. She was able to capture some mediocre pictures so she moved on to get me some cute face shots. She whipped out a slightly larger hardware the size of a deodorant and tried to capture a 3D image of the face.
3D ultrasounds are tricky. I was unaware that the clinic had this ability but since I had extra time the tech gave it a run. The software threatened to crash the computer while she navigated to find a perfect profile. Once the device finds it's target, it locks on and the software circumvents the object to create the 3D image. The moments of opportunity are fleeting and nothing can obstruct said object. So she focused on the profile of the face in order to capture the front in 3D but at the last second, Ry would put his hand in front of his mouth ruining the image. We tried everything to get him to move it. She poked and I rolled on my side. He put up a good fight. At last when the offensive hand was removed he came down with a bout of hiccups which once again ruined the images. The only one we got is a profile with his thumb seemingly up his nose.
Melanie at Blue Lotus Design is a wonderful henna artist and is influenced by all different cultures but has found her own style and niche in the market of body henna. Having grown up in Auckland and traveling all over the world from India to Thailand, she is a fascinating person to work with and talk to. The design took maybe an hour and a half and is one of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon. Last time I worked with Melanie, she had had to help me out of her house after doing henna on my arms while I was still on crutches. Regardless to say, she remembered me well. At this point, Ryden was on a rampage. I can hardly get him to so much as blink when I ask people if they want to touch the belly, but the henna made him wild. Melanie compared my stomach to a waterbed in the way it was flowing around. She has worked with over 40 bellies and said mine was one the most active she'd seen. Some of the design had to be retouched from the baby wrath but all in all, it was a beautiful result that was not of the conventional preggy design. Now I feel all pretty for the Shower on Sunday, but still slightly self conscious to go to the store with just the belly bared. Posted in: on August 16, 2010 at at 7:27:00 PM