Punkin's first photoshoot!

Edit: I added another picture at the end - a better photo of the heartbeat picture.

Today we met our little one for the very first time! I had a vaginal ultrasound since we're still in the first trimester, so we were able to see many details of our babe!

The first thing the ultrasound technician said was, "Wow.. You might be further along than you think!"

And I am! Our baby measures 10w3d. I'm assuming this is because our baby implanted earlier than expected, because I know my exact date of ovulation - so this is great news! Our due date has moved from 10-15 to about 10-11. Actually, my paperwork said that I was only 9w3d (putting my due date at 10-17) because of my last menstrual period. But our little one measured a full week ahead!

Now our chances of having a babe born on 10-10-10 just skyrocketed! Let's hope -- that's such an awesome birthday! Punkin would be our "perfect ten" :]

So we saw our little one on the screen, and we were ecstatic! We didn't get emotional at all - we were just so excited. Mark and I were asking lots of questions as we watched our babe wave at us, flail his/her arms and legs, and practice kickboxing! Babe's little umbilical cord looked great; it was precious!

First we listened to the heartbeat. Here's a shot of the heartbeat:

That reads 173bpm.
Is anyone left on the boy team now?! Ha!!

Since Pumpkin Seed was moving around so much, it took her a while to get a good photo. Meanwhile, however, we saw the eyes, mouth, etc. in detail - so cool! Here's a frontal view of our little gummy bear:

she said that dark spot in the chest is "probably" the heart
it's even in the SHAPE of a heart

Our scanner is evidently horrible, because you can't see any of the details that we see in real life. I took a photo with Mark's iPhone in the car of the last photo. Look closely - you can see a nose and an open mouth:


I'll take a better photo with my Canon in a little bit to try to get a clearer photo. In the Gummy Bear photo (first picture) you can even see toes! ...but our scanner didn't pick up that detail.

I also have the opportunity to go back in 2 weeks for the Nuchal Translucency screening - this is an ultrasound where they measure the tissue on the back of our baby's neck via ultrasound. It checks for a higher risk of Downs and Trisomy 18. Tricare pays for this since, if our baby did test positive for the screening, I would be marked as "high risk" and would have to give birth in a regional hospital with top-of-the-line equipment for our baby. The ultrasound just prepares you if your child tests positive.. but, if we choose to go ahead with this, it will mostly be because we get a free ultrasound. Not because I'm concerned about chromosomal abnormalities. (We aren't at risk at all).

Hey. We love seeing our first born.

:]


Today was such a wonderful day. We were just in awe of our little Gummy Bear.

YAY!


Edited to add:

see our baby's toes?
At the very bottom, you can see the toes separated. Sweet!