And it's a ...... !

Here are the scan photos from Week 12.

You can see the baby really clearly. All the hands and feet seem to be there. It spun and twirled, pirouetted and pranced as the radiologist tried to take the scan images. The most amazing part was seeing the tiny heartbeat knocking away. 

The whole experience made the reality of impending fatherhood solidify and sink in. I have no idea how first time fathers prepared for fatherhood back in the old days before scans. Perhaps they just didn't eh?

The wee one gave us a wave as we took this one. If you look carefully, you can see it is actually doing the 'peace' sign for the camera, just to show us it's Japanese heritage.

Chiharu has been very excited about the baby's high bridge. Apparently a strong bridge on one's nose is considered better looking in Japan, and her mother actually used to squeeze the bridge between her eyes when she was an infant, to help raise it up. Hopefully none of that lark will be necessary with our child.
It looks like Baby T is poking it's tongue out at us in this one, though actually that is probably just the umbilical cord. In reality babies in the womb are very much like a cross between that scene in The Matrix when he wakes up covered in gel, fed by tubes, in a human incubator, and the first Alien film up until the alien bursts out of its hosts abdomen.

Skip forward 10 weeks

This is the baby today. It is a lot bigger, we couldn't see all of it at once, just parts at a time.

In this photo the face really does resemble something out of Alien, however when we were watching the scan occasionally we could see the face, and it looked like Chiharu! Seems like it has her nose and cheeks. It was very exciting for me, more so than the last scan.

A hand, with all the digits and the opposing thumb clearly visible.

 All four ventricles of the heart. Incredible to see them beating.








And finally, the news. It's a BOY!
Can you see the evidence? Just in the middle there.

I'm thrilled. Chiharu reckoned she could sense that it was a girl, I think she was kind of hoping for a girl, but she's always said she doesn't mind. I'm simply overjoyed!
Now to just find a name for a boy....???