Images From Within

Sarah and I went along to Stanford Hospital today for our third ultrasound scan of the baby. The last one was at 13 weeks into the pregnancy, so expectations were running high as we headed in for the 22 week scan, which would seek to measure the baby’s growth and rule out any abnormalities.

We instructed the woman conducting the examination that we did not wish to know the gender of the baby before birth and away she went with the echo sounder.

Franbert is doing very well, we were pleased to hear. He/she looks a lot bigger than 8 weeks ago. According to my book, Hét Negen Maanden Boek, he’s now approximately 28.5 cm long and weighs 440 g. What a lot of baby; no wonder Sarah’s belly is swelling so nicely.

Anyway, all was well within: no club feet, no cleft palette, normal growth, a beating heart, a closed spine, etc. The placenta’s lying a little low, but not covering the cervix, which is good. This is quite common and the placenta will probably retreat upwards along the wall of the uterus as the pregnancy progresses.

It was rather odd to look at Franbert this time. He looked a little ghoulish as the ultrasound rendered his bones, but not so much of his flesh. All we could see was a small skeleton with some hazy, translucent grey matter around it. I’m sure he’ll be better looking when seen through human eyes.

Nevertheless, it’s priceless to see his fingers and toes, his little legs, the curve of his bum, the femur inside his leg, etc. I’m not one for messing around with nature, but the glimpse behind the scenes that an ultrasound gives you is really irresistable.

Lying in bed before we headed to Stanford, I was treated to my first kick from Franbert. Sarah’s been feeling them for a while now, but they’re still mild enough that it’s impossible to feel any but the most energetic from the outside. This morning, however, he was active and I was able to feel him move against my hand. It’s very cool to be able to engage in this primitive form of contact, as I truly believe it aids the bonding process.

If you’re interested in such things, we’ve put up ultrasound photos from the three scans to date.

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