Surprise! First Pictures.

After a tiny bit of a scare a few days ago, the doctor wanted me to come in just to check on you and make sure everything looks good. So although I was a little scared and sad that your Dad couldn't be there with me, I was excited to get to see you earlier than I thought! So into the doctor's office I went, and the doctor brought me into the ultrasound room. As soon as she put the wand onto my belly - there you were!! A tiny little bean, happy and warm, and then right away she pointed out your beating heart! It was quite amazing.

The doctor said everything looked perfect - your heart was beating strong at 176 bpm, and you measured 1.36 cm long. Based on how big you were, the doctor estimated that you were about 7w5d old (not the 8w4d I thought you were). So finding out I wasn't quite as far along as I had thought was a little disheartening, but now I'm caught back up! Dad thinks you might have a growth spurt and catch back up... I hope so too. We go back next week to have another ultrasound and we'll see then how big you are - and Dad gets to see you for the first time!

Anyway - here you are! You're on the left, with your head towards the bottom and your umbilical cord attached to the yolk sac, which will become the placenta soon.

And here's your close-up! This picture shows your heartbeat at the bottom, and though you can't see it in the photo, your tiny heart was going a mile a minute in the area between the dotted lines. I'm so proud of you!

So there you are! It seems a bit more real now, and it was just such a great feeling knowing you really are in there and your heart is beating happy & healthy! See you again soon baby!

All my love, Mom