Fetal Heart Study

Today we had our Fetal Heart Study at Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM). Basically, we had another ultrasound focused on the structure and performance of the fetal heart. The technology amazed me once again. In addition to the visual aspect of zooming in on the different structures inside and surrounding the heart, the scan is capable of pinpointing and capturing the sound of the individual chambers and valves, filtering out the background noise (Mom's systems), and then analyzing the waveform to see if the baby's heart is up to spec. Can we say engineering marvel?

Putting the experience itself aside, the purpose of the study was to make sure the baby's ticker was okay and we are happy to say, "It was!" Additionally, we enjoyed more face time with our unborn child and brought home a few more photos for the album.

Below is a shot of the baby's face...looking right at you.

Here, the baby is in the fetal position. It's a bit difficult to make out, but the labels help out quite a bit. Basically, the knees and elbows are together.

The last one here is a profile of the baby's head. Check out that cranium!

So, what now? Well, we go back to the doctor next week for our 24 week check-up. All looks well from our experience with MFM, and we are looking forward to the rest of the pregnancy. It'll be a long four months yet, as the baby is very active at this point and is keeping things interesting for Heather. On Friday last week, I felt the baby's movements for the first time. How cool is that! It was a little weird at first to think that there is a little person inside her making those movements. I kept having flashbacks to the first time I saw "Alien" where the monster shoots out of John Hurt's stomach. Great visual, huh? But really, what an exciting time!

Heather is calling me away from the computer. Seems she's hungry. I know better not to ignore her (actually, it's all about the fear). Be back soon with more updates.

-Chris