Baby Eikum's First Photos!

We had our first ultrasound this week! It was amazing to get a sneak peek of what God has been putting together inside of me. Here are the pictures we got to bring home:

The process of the ultrasound was really wonderful. We got to see the baby which was awesome. And then we got to watch the ultrasound tech hunt down lots of important body parts, including the brain, kidneys, legs, arms, feet, and all four ventricles of the heart (that was cool - she zoomed in and slowed down the picture until we could fully see four little sections of our baby's heart). I was really in awe to see the intricate details of this new life.

The tech commented that the baby has a great angle to its ankle, which was funny to me. And Bert loved watching the legs kick and thought it was amazing that I couldn't feel it while we watched. We joked that the baby has restless legs already, just like him.

Some other interesting details we learned were:

-my placenta is on top, which is why it's a little less easy to feel the baby moving all the time (Jenn, your prediction was right!)

-the baby was sitting breach (butt down) really low, so she couldn't have told us the gender if we wanted to know in that position

-the baby is not 20 weeks yet, only 18, according to its size. So we get to have another ultrasound in 4 weeks where they can check the things they couldn't get this time like spine growth and a face close-up. (You can guess I'm excited to see that next time!) I think they need the face shot to show the upper lip/nose area in more detail.

-consequently, they pushed back our due date to April. I think it's the 5th.

Then we spent some time talking with our doctor, who graciously fielded many questions about birth. I've been learning more about the process and endless options for a birth plan. There are a lot of different opinions out there, and it was helpful to hear her wisdom as we start sorting through our own preferences.