The Big Ultrasound

What an awesome day! We went for our first ultrasound this afternoon and had a great time. There was a TV in front of us so we could watch the baby instead of twisting around to see the ultrasound tech's screen. I couldn't believe how active the baby was. They say babies usually sleep during the day - all the walking around "rocks" them to sleep. Well, this is the second time the baby has been wide awake when being checked. The baby checked out great and is estimated to weigh about 9 oz, which is right on track for 18 weeks, 5 days. The tech looked at just about everything - brain, eyes (including the lens), heart, legs, feet, arms, spine, hands, stomach, kidneys, umbilical cord, lips and nose (I'm sure I missed something on this list). Our baby really made her work to get all of the images - it was positioned upside down in a ball! At one point the baby was sitting on its feet. I think our baby might be a future Olympic gymnast. Luckily the baby stretched out (which was adorable) and allowed her to get some good pictures. We got to see all four chambers of the heart and the blood pumping. The tech even did a couple of 3D images to get a better look at the baby. I think the 3D images are a little creepy, but it was cool to see what they are able to do with technology. She could "peel" back the layers of the uterus to see the baby and then she peeled back the baby's skin all the way to the skull. Like I said, kind of creepy, but cool. We also saw that the placenta is at the top of my uterus (the fundus) so in a couple of weeks I'll really be able to feel all of the baby's movements. We were so happy to actually see our baby and really loved seeing how active the little booger is. The tech printed out 7 images for us to take home. I wish we had gotten a shot of the baby's spine because that was really neat, but we ended up with some fun images of our baby.

Baby's profile, what a cute nose!

Another profile pic, chin to the chest and legs curled up

A little foot!

3D image of the baby's face

Baby's chin to its chest, curled up tight

Another profile shot (the bright white is the skull)

Baby's little arm