This scan was taken when I was only 9 weeks pregnant and it was incredibly exciting!

The reason for the scan was to determine the accurate dates for the pregnancy and therefore give an Expected Due Date (EDD).

Even at this incredibly early stage of development we were amazed at how detailed the tiny figure was and unexpectedly non-shrimp like!

The two white dots seen at the top of the head and base of the spine are used to give a measurement of the foetus and this determines the age.

This scan was taken at 13 weeks and was just as exciting as the first!

Called a 'Nuchal' scan it is performed to measure the amount of fluid at the back of the baby's neck. This gives an inication as to the chances of the baby being born with Downs Syndrome.

This method is a far less invasive way of detecting any problems and we were fortunate that St. Helier Hospital perform this scan routinely.

Although the scan is not very clear, you can see the baby's head in profile on the left hand side, chest and arm.

At 20 weeks we had our final scan and by now baby was all formed and growing rapidly. At this stage the sex of a baby can be determined...but that would spoil the surprise!

The strangest thing about this scan was that the baby's skin was still transparent allowing us to see the spine right through the baby's chest (bright white line bottom right), as well as the lungs, heart etc.

As you will also note, the head (left hand side) is now far more in proportion with the body and eye sockets, nose and mouth clear to see.