Today I wanted to share the pictures of baby "Peanut" from the first trimester.
5 day old blastocyst
This is his very first baby picture -- isn't he so beautiful? When the embryo was 5 days old and contained 100 cells (a blastocyst), he went into the freezer. I spent exactly one month preparing the uterine lining to make a perfect home for him. Then Peanut came out of the freezer for the transfer back to me. In this picture, he is breaking out of his shell. Did you know that embryos are in a shell for the first 5 days? Normally that would prevent the embryo from implanting in the wrong place as it travels down the fallopian tubes into the uterus. So in this photo, you can see that he was ready to Implant -- and he did!!
Now, nearly 3 weeks later, Peanut is 5 weeks gestation and happy in his new home.
At 6 weeks gestation, I heard his heart beating for the first time -- 112 bpm. Amazing that such a tiny being can have his own heartbeat!
Seven weeks and he is a whole 13 mm across, with a faster heartbeat at 144 bpm
Eight weeks, 21 mm, and he finally looks like a baby, umbilical cord and all.
Nine weeks and growing fast.
Ten weeks gestation and you can see his head, body, arms, and legs. Plus he was moving around!
Peanut's leg and feet
Eleven weeks and Peanut has grown to nearly 58mm!
I am waiting for my next peek on July 23 at 19 weeks gestation. I cannot imagine how Peanut has grown and changed since May 28th. Stay tuned...