The fetus is real, it's moving, and, thank god, there's only one. The CVS docs want to confirm gestational age, but you just stare in amazement. One more week to wait. Sweetheart trundles you off to the big city medical center. Bright lights, kind counselors.
Sweetheart wonders why.
Jelly on the wand, and the image looks like algae. Somehow the sonographer sees all. The placenta looks solid to the untrained eye, but those in the know call it chorionic villi. Maybe a cervical approach, maybe abdominal, says the technician. The fetus hangs out in the middle of the road.