No, your gestational sac of a baby does not look cute

The first time I saw a picture of my unborn child, I honestly didn’t feel tremendous love overflowing in my chest. It’s hard feeling that when you’re staring at what looks like a cross between a snowman and the Pillsbury dough boy. Eventually though, the picture grew on me.

Ultrasounds, as we would later find out, are magical things. They give you a visual of that tiny miracle growing inside your wife’s belly. When you get a print out to show to your family and friends, it suddenly becomes very official. It becomes tangible, therefore it becomes real. Whatever uncertainty surrounding the initial stages of pregnancy (is this really happening?!) is now displaced by the reality of a “intrauterine representation of a yolk sac and embryo”. And you have a picture to prove it!

At this point, resist the urge to see more of the photo that what it is (look how cute her tiny winsy nose is!!!). Get a grip of yourself before it becomes really awkward for your well-meaning officemates. What you see is a gestational sac – a mass of almost formless goo that are just the beginnings of a human. Keep that picture in your wallet and take it out anytime during the course of your day. Don’t worry, people will understand if they see you smiling teary-eyed.

There will be plenty more ultrasounds as your wife’s pregnancy progresses. In the later stages (end of second trimester to the beginning of third trimester), you can even go for a 4D ultrasound. They take a series of photos via ultrasound and stitch them together to form a video. I recommend you splurge a little for the 4D ultrasound, I guarantee you’ll love it. I saved mine in my iPad and instantly became my most played video. Again, resist the urge to shove your video in everyone’s faces.

On the last days of pregnancy, your baby’s pictures will be clearer and sonographers may start seeing “things” with the baby. These are of course abnormalities, and my goodness, there are millions of things that can go wrong with a baby! My wife and I personally went through a difficult time with ultrasound results of our baby (I will definitely write about this in the future). In case you get a “bad news”, don’t stress about it. Let me repeat that: don’t stress about it. Just come to God in prayer, and stay away from Google.

Ultrasounds are never conclusive of what your baby will actually turn out. For all it’s technological wizardry, the machines are basically just measuring sound waves. The doctors will have to wait for when your baby comes out to diagnose anything officially. And you should too.