In the beginning...

When I would receive photos from friends and family of their baby-in-utero (via ultrasound), I would scrunch up my eyes and turn my head this way and that, trying to accept that what they said was the head was, indeed, the head or seeing, as they seemed to see so easily, that this really was a girl and not a boy. In the end, I would just accept whatever they said, sans picture, and delete the photo. They never made any sense to me.

I now understand why. Those photos are, unfortunately, mere 2D moment-in-time snapshots of an exam wherein the mom-to-be (and hopefully dad-to-be) are watching the baby in action. Baby's arm flies up from the bottom and starts waving. Hands connect as if clapping. Legs start kicking. Oops--the baby just flipped completely over and now has its back to you. With all this movement, the spectators have time and reference to figure out just what they're seeing. The baby is so much more than a static 2D image to them.

Our baby has never been dormant during our "visits" with her. Join us, along with photos, on this 18 week journey:

In the beginning (weeks 6 & 8), we were hard pressed to see her. The first sighting, at six weeks old, brought us great joy--she was growing in the uterus, not the fallopian tube! Hope soared. (The tiny white dot to the right side of the black spot (amniotic sac) is the baby, our little "lentil bean"!)

Our next sighting, two weeks later (8 weeks old), elated us. She had grown! In the midst of some spotting, this was so reassuring! The amniotic sac (black blob inside the uterus) in which she was developing was certainly growing, and the umbilical cord is shown reaching from the sac to the placenta. The bundle of white dots in the bottom of the sac are our little "kidney bean".

After just a month, we were amazed how quickly a "fully" formed baby came to life before our eyes (here she is at 13 weeks). A head, a body, four limbs (she's in an upright position, facing straight out at us, with her hands, of course, in front of her mouth). The heart, the brain, all in motion. It was during this visit that she clapped and then seemed to wave--Kyle waved back to our "medium sized shrimp"!

Then, just last Thursday, we saw our baby girl, age 18 weeks. As usual, her activity level made it trickier for the sonographer to track her hands and kidneys and other body parts that he needed to measure and double check. Here's a shot of her head, face, and chest and a clear picture of the umbilical cord. The doctor assured us her features seem more prominent right now, before her cheeks fill out and take up some of that excess space on her face. (Otherwise, our "bell pepper" will be sporting some serious Angelina Jolie lips!) :)

Her hands have always been in motion, just as this picture shows with her hand up beside her head/ear--perhaps she'll be in the Happy Hands Signing club like her mama? :) After this visit, we walked away with "golden images" of our girl rather than the confusing black and white shots, although I almost find these freakier. I refer to them as "alien baby" photos, and I don't mind if you do, too.

As my sister appropriately reminded me, all of God's creations are miracles. Just like we're baffled by His creation of the earth and heavens and all that fills them, we are equally baffled and amazed by His creation of life. In the beginning, God created...and He's still at work creating life anew.