The First Glimpse

This Week in Baby Land –

Real. Fact. True.

Let this image settle into your minds. All these pictures below, all of the wonderful little tidbits about embryonic / fetal development that I have been sharing with you, they refer to something REAL, something TRUE…something ALIVE.

And on Monday, we saw it!!!

(Little tip - CLICK the picture above for a better view!)

First off, for those who know, this will make sense, for those who don’t…it will make sense eventually – the first ultrasound is a little different than the others. But there I was, standing next to an uncomfortable Amber, watching static flicker across the monitor and listening to the doctor drone on about “well there is your bladder – kinda small – and there are your ovaries…blah blah blah…” But then I saw something in the milky mesh on the screen. A head, a foot, what can only be described as a life-giving leash – “And there is your baby.”

She – the doctor – said it in such an unassuming tone I would have thought she was describing the soup of the day, if the soup of the day was mild and to be served cold—like Gazpacho (the cold, vegetable soup from Spain). I almost missed it. I would have missed it if the baby – right at that moment – didn’t turn toward us, so we could see it’s face, arms and legs – and started CLAPPING its hands and feet!!!

Our child welcomed us before we had the presence of mind to welcome it! It was clapping and dancing and partying in the womb. Amber – of course – was overcome with emotion and…squeezed my hand. That’s it. She told me later that she on first sight of our little bundle of joy, she was filled with emotion, and her eyes welling with tears, but felt silly and embarrassed at the thought of being THAT girl, the one who executes to the letter the clichéd lifetime movie moment. Not only that, but our little happy, dancing baby surprised us all so much that the moment was lost when all our jaws hit the floor in disbelief. That only last for a moment – then we all burst into joyous laughter as we enjoyed the view.

So yes – we have seen our child. It danced, it clapped, it celebrated our introduction.