Monday 2 August 2004

baby's first portrait



I got a letter in the post today from the hospital confirming my first scan appointment. It's on Friday the 13th, which hopefully isn't a bad sign. It would be rather startling to see the baby wearing a hockey mask and wielding a chainsaw during the ultrasound. I'm actually pretty excited (understatement) and very relieved to finally have a scan date. The pamphlet that came with my letter explained that "time is restricted" during scans and they cannot identify the sex of the baby because they "prefer to use the time to scan for physical abnormalities". I suppose that sounds more diplomatic than "we won't check the sex of your baby because you might be some weird religious fanatic and terminate the pregnancy if it's not a boy".



I am hoping that the Rosie has another ultrasound teaching session soon, because they do a very thorough (1 hour) scan and point out several important details to the medical students in attendance. Tosha at work had this done, and not only did they check the nuchal fold (this is something I would have to pay extra for), they took a guess at the sex of her baby and did a thorough check of things like the baby's brain and internal organs. As an added bonus, you get paid for your time (just a fiver, but what the heck) and it allows you a one hour look into your womb rather than the quickie scans you normally get. I think I may have missed my chance as they probably only do these sessions a couple of times a year, but I'll keep an eye peeled.



Things are going swimmingly (touch wood) and my only complaint is that I get very tired easily (touch wood again). I seem to have regained my taste for meat, but my sweet tooth is still there with a vengeance. This is supposed to indicate that I'm carrying a girl, but then I have headaches and no morning sickness which is supposed to indicate a boy. So going by this, I think I have a 50% chance of having a girl, and a 50% chance of having a boy. Give or take.



I hope my kid doesn't inherit my smartarse gene.

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