Slide show: Fetal ultrasound

An early glimpse of your developing baby

An ultrasound can give you an early glimpse of your developing baby. But this exam isn't done primarily for parental thrills. It allows your health care provider to evaluate your baby's growth and development and determine how your pregnancy is progressing.

Wonder what to expect? Here's a sneak peek at real ultrasound images.

Baby at 11 weeks

During an ultrasound, high-frequency sound waves are translated into a pattern of light and dark areas — creating an image of your baby on a monitor.

In this slide, you see a baby's profile at 11 weeks. From this point until the 20th week of pregnancy — the halfway mark — the baby will triple in length.

Baby's heart

This slide offers a four-chamber view of a baby's heart — a reassuring sign of healthy development.

Normally, the heart is about one-third the size of a baby's chest. It's positioned at about a 45-degree angle to the baby's spine and front of the chest. The left and right sides of the heart are divided in half by a wall called the interventricular septum.

Baby's brain

Here you see the base of a baby's brain. The shape of the cerebellum — the part of the brain that controls muscle coordination and balance — is important in the detection of neural tube defects.

Normally, the neural tube forms in the first few weeks of pregnancy. The top of this tube becomes the baby's brain, and the rest becomes the spinal cord. Problems in neural tube development may lead to conditions such as spina bifida, in which the spinal cord may bulge out through an opening in the spine.

Baby's head

This is a view of a baby's head. See the thick white lines that form a circle near the top of the image? These lines indicate the baby's skull. The white line in the middle of the circle is the midline structure that separates the baby's brain into symmetrical halves.

Measurements of your baby's head can help your health care provider determine your baby's age.

Baby's hand

Here you see a baby's open hand and fingers — another reassuring sign. Images of an open hand help the health care provider rule out certain chromosomal abnormalities.

Baby's eyes

Any guesses about this image? It's the lens of a baby's eye.

Although your baby's eyes are fully developed by week 26, they may not open until week 28.

Baby's neck

This slide is a cross section of a baby's cervical spine. The cervical spine — which begins at the base of the skull — contains and protects the spinal cord and supports the skull.

Baby's spine

This image is easier to decipher than the others. Look carefully, and you can see the curve of a baby's spine.

Baby's femur

Now you're looking at a baby's femur. This leg bone is the longest in the human body, extending from the hip to the knee. Along with measurements of the head and abdomen and the distance from ear to ear, femur length provides important information about your baby's age.

Baby's lower legs

On this split screen, check out the lower legs. The baby's knee is on the right side of each image, and the ankle is on the left. You can also see the tibia and fibula (shinbones). The tibia is thicker than the fibula.

Site of baby's umbilical cord

Do you know what you're seeing here? The arrow points to the site where the umbilical cord is attached to the baby's belly.

By examining this area, your health care provider can identify or rule out conditions such as the protrusion of abdominal contents through an opening at the navel (omphalocele) and a break or split in the tissue that forms the abdominal wall (gastroschisis).

Baby's profile

For parents, this may be the most touching of all ultrasound images — baby's profile. Did you notice the baby's hand resting on his or her knee?

Looking ahead

Typically, an ultrasound offers reassurance that your baby is growing and developing normally. If you're not sure what you're seeing on the monitor, feel free to ask. Take advantage of the opportunity to admire your baby from head to toe!