Car Trouble, Baby's first picture

Today was our 8 week appointment. Nathan is working 2 hours away in Corsicana this week, and we really wanted him to be here for the appointment since it was our first sonogram and the first time we'd get to hear the baby's heartbeat. The plan was that I would drive down to get him, come back for the appointment, take him back, and then come home. Like a good wifey I left this morning to go get him but my car was shaking and jiving down the road and I was really scared to drive it. Then I started to hear noises like a tire was about to blow up. I pulled over and looked for the jack in the trunk, but we apparently don't have one. I started snuffling and boo-hooing (HORMONES people; normally I'm a "fix-it" kind of person) and called Nathan. I tried to call Daphne (my MIL) to bring me a jack, but found out she was sick in bed. So I called Melissa, who was in school but had her husband Thomas with her. He came out with a jack and put my spare on for me, then followed me to the house and put my old tire on. VERY sweet of them both, and highly appreciated. Unfortunately, I knew that by the time I waited for someone to come rescue me and fix my tire I wouldn't have time to get out to Corsicana and and still make my Dr. appointment in time. I knew Nathan didn't really want to drive himself up here, because he usually sleeps during the day and works nights so he wasn't sure he would be able to stay awake to drive. I called him and told him I wouldn't be mad if he couldn't be here, that I understood and would rather he not drive if he thought he might have an accident. But, his supervisor Matt told Nathan that if he didn't drive up here for the appointment than he would fire him! Matt is such a nice guy. He gave Nathan permission to sleep at home and drive back down to Corsicana later, and to come into work late tonight.

We went to the appointment which was a Sonogram and Dr. visit. They did the Sono first and it was just the COOLEST thing!! We got to see our baby and hear its heartbeat rushing away in there. 173 beats a minute sounds really fast! Angie was our technician and she was very sweet and put us right at ease. She took time to answer all of our questions. She said that I have a large cyst on my right ovary, which is apparently very normal. The nurse told us that the cyst releases progesterone, which helps support the baby until the amniotic sac is formed at around 12 weeks. Right now, baby still has a yolk sac (marked YS on the pictures). We were told that the cyst should disappear later in pregnancy. Nathan got a chance to ask the Dr. about my little fainting spell, and I think he's not as worried now. Also, I haven't gained any weight. In fact, I weight less than the last time I went in. They haven't said anything at all to me about what to gain, but I think it's about a half pound a month for the first three months or something like that. Obviously its not a concern, since nobody said anything about it. So, next visit in a month.

On the left Baby looks like it has a little halo. That's the yolk sac. From left to right its Rump, Head, Yolk sac. Then in the picture on the right it's all labeled. It looks like a little peanut!

In the bottom picture, on the left you can see the umbilical cord going from the baby to the placenta. In the right picture you can see the arm bud, which Angie marked, and a leg bud on the lower right. Another really cool thing was that we could actually see Baby's heart beating, fluttering away in its tiny chest. Technology--pretty cool! I was so excited to see it and hear it. I feel like there really is a baby now, and now I'm excited about it. It's really there!