My Beautiful Boy!

Beautiful? We think so, of course. 

We've been staring at 3D ultrasound images since Day 1 of this pregnancy and making comments about how strange the babies look at the various stages of development. In the first trimester, though "cute" in their own little way, the fetuses look more like strange little creatures. You still feel a certain affinity for them, obviously, but it's kind of along the lines of thinking E.T. the Extra Terrestrial or hairless baby pandas are "cute." Then, as the ears position themselves correctly and the little beady eyes move to the front of the head where they're supposed to be and the legs grow more proportionate so the kid isn't all head and belly anymore, you can start to relate to the little guy as a parent. It's a baby PERSON!! Thank god. Except he looks more like an old guy instead of a pudgy little baby. If you've read anything on fetal development, you know this is because he has not yet developed the fat stores that babies need in order to survive outside the womb. I am already doing my job keeping him nice and warm, thank you very much. 

Maybe because of the lack of baby fat, his features are very distinguishable! From the beginning, this little guy has been a mover and shaker, and he lived up to his reputation during the 21 week scan too. The ultrasound technician was getting great images, but just as soon as the image would resolve clearly on the screen (there's a slight delay, like when a video is buffering on the Internet), the baby would move again, distorting the picture. So while it certainly is a more accurate representation of what the baby's face actually looks like than the usual 2D sonogram snaps that give cross-sections and great profile shots, it still ends up looking a little bit funky. Oddly, the feature that came out the best in every picture is the umbilical cord, which has an uncanny habit of getting right in the way of everything, and as the technician noted, was apparently irritating the baby causing him to try to move it out of his way. 

We've gotten mixed reviews of this latest portrait. Most people have been blown away at the picture. It is pretty cool. My mom thinks he's perfect (as usual, she is right). My step-mom thinks he has my cheekbones. My dad thinks he has my Ya-ya's nose (which my dad also has). My first thought was that he looks just like my brother did when he was little, who looked like my dad when he was little. Upon further scrutiny, I believe he has Sean's brow bone and the same pensive little look Sean gets when reviewing my latest credit card statement (or shooing that pesky umbilical cord out of the way). Sean was, as a good father should be, absolutely captivated and in total awe of this striking image of his son. Before this picture, we could only imagine what he might look like in there, and now suddenly we know the shape of his little mouth. His eyes have not opened yet (and won't for quite a while), and no, he is not preparing for Halloween as Pugsley Addams--that dark "widows peak" on the top of his head is actually the area where his skull has not fused together.