Baby's First Picture!

I had my first prenatal visit this morning. Everything is GREAT so far, although I haven't gotten any news on my blood work yet.


There were only two things I was nervous about:
1. That the baby's heartbeat wouldn't be there (possibly the sign of an impending miscarriage)
2. That the sac would be empty (meaning, baby stopped developing weeks ago and just hasn't aborted yet)

But as soon as the ultrasound went on, there was a little mass inside of that black sac and a fast and furious flicker in the center of it. Our baby has a heartbeat. It's incredible to sit here and think that inside of my body is a fist sized, 23+ year old heart beating and the immature heart of our tiny little zygote is beating independently of mine. The heart was going strong, at about 149 BPM (they like to see it between 130-150). And the baby was exactly the size it should be for 7 weeks -- 12.4MM.

My due date is officially August 18th. Okay, now the fun part, here is little baby Erickson-Sander:



Here, I've labeled what the nurse told me about the hard-to-understand shadows:


The same photo, unaltered:


Using this photo, the nurse was able to determine our bean's heart's BPM:


So there they are, folks! Like I said to my sister earlier today, only a pregnant woman can find these black and white shadowy pictures simply adorable!

Luckily, my doctor does 3D/4D ultrasounds after this (unlike some docs, at no extra cost) so at my 12 week appt in 5 weeks, you'll be able to literally SEE our baby. It's amazing.

One more cool thought: today my baby isn't even as big as a bean. By my 12 week appt in only FIVE WEEKS, it will be about the size of an apple! That's some fast growth there.

Regarding my doctor's office- so far I love everyone I've met and it's been a great experience all around. The doctor even called me at home about 30 mins to congratulate me and let me know to call if I had any questions (today, I just saw a nurse for basic stuff). He sounded genuinely excited for me. Fake or not, it was nice. The nurse says both doctors are phenomenal. I feel lucky to have found them and that they take our insurance.

Cheers!