First Baby Pictures!

Today was a very exciting day! We had our first ultrasound appointment -- a little early due to some medical issues in my family history. We first spent an hour with a genetic counselor who took a very detailed family history. They then took some more blood to measure my current hormone levels, which can be indicators of chromosomal abnormalities. My impression from the appointment is that our risk is very very minimal and that things are going well. It was a reassuring doctor's visit. The most fantastic part was the ultrasound -- our first glimpse at Baby Foster. All indications are that we are doing just fine! The head to rump length is about 2.5 inches putting us spot on at 12 weeks and a few days. The heart rate was 158 bpm -- perfect! And the measurement of the fluid pocket behind the neck (also indicative of potential chromosomal abnormalities) is about as good as it gets. Phew! The doctor wasn't able to make any sort of guess as to the gender (he said it was a "tweener"!), but we have another appointment for 18 weeks -- December 11th. Get your vote in the poll before then!

Without further ado, here are the first baby pictures!:

In these ones, the critter is looking at us (head on the left, body on the right). Baby did a lot of gymnastics and waving and backstroking. Then it "fell asleep" according to the lady doing the ultrasound. So she made me empty my bladder (the very full pocket to the right -- sorry if that grosses you out). I had read that you needed to have a relatively full bladder to make the uterus fully visible. After I used the restroom, the critter woke up and bounced around some more.



In this top one you can see both legs -- it looks like the baby fell down a hill with its feet up in the air! We were actually able to count fingers in some views. Pretty awesome!