"Harti" at 20 weeks gestation

Dominik and I were at the hospital in Dundee on Wednesday, 18 June for the baby's second ultrasound at 20 weeks. It was really cool to see the sonographic technology in use. We could see the four ventricles of its heart. It had the circumference of its head and length of its femur measured. I looked over my left shoulder to Dominik to see his facial expression and saw that he was reading a neuroscience paper from work, which I promptly instructed him to put away. Later when we were back at the car park, I asked him if he was bored with the examination. He replied, "No, just extremely nervous. The paper was anchoring me from shaking too much." (Sweet.) From what the sonographer could tell, everything looked to be in order. Before leaving we asked for the sex of the baby; she told us we would be having a boy. He'll be the first son, grandson (for both sides) and great grandson . . . definitely most spoilt!


Later on that evening, I worked in Newport at the junior boys' club (Rio Juniors) as substitute for one of the Youth Workers. The first half went smoothly, but the second half of the night was a nightmare. The boys (ages 11-12) were so unruly and mouthy. I came home from work and just bawled my eyes out. I don't think I was prepared for the doctor to tell me it would be a boy. I had secretly hoped for a girl. A girl I figured, as illogic as it will sound, I could raise. But me, the mother of a boy? I don't know how to raise a boy . . . I always hung out with the naughtier ones. Would mine turn out to be so? Would my upbringing of him go askew, god forbid he turn into a hooligan? Or a thug? Or a . . . okay, I was over-reacting. The next day I was completely fine. These upcoming parenthood moments can be a little overwhelming from time to time.

Emotional traumas aside, I'm fortunately over the hump of sore breasts, morning sickness and head colds that plagued my first trimester. I can say that I feel like I have settled into life as an expectant mother of a boy for the time being. This past Sunday (22 June), I felt "Hartmut" kicking around for the first time when I was lying in bed. Up until that point I'd only felt "fluttering" on the inside of my uterus wall, which was a very pleasant and surprisingly soft sensation in its own right! On Thursday (26 June) while I was typing on the laptop, I looked down and saw a momentary bulge emerge from the left side of my abdomen. I was like, "Whooaa!" It was wild -- like something out of one of the Alien films.

Oh, but on Wednesday (25 June), the middle of my trunk hurt like hell. It was all cramped up, which Dom and I figured was due to a shortage of calcium and/or magnesium for the day (the milk had soured that morning). And then twice in the night I woke up with the worst leg cramps. Dom still makes the best nurse in the whole wide world when gets up to rub them out. Today, though, he stocked me up on all those necessary minerals so there will be no cramping tonight -- I hope.

Muscle cramps aren't the only challenges to face; Dominik and I have had one brain cramp after another trying to think up names . . . mostly still quite silly, and providing a good laugh, at this point. We come up with names like Primus Gambrinus Maximus Endres or Hartmut (which is considered the Franconian drunk village idiot) or Bacchus M. T. (like an empty [M.T.] glass of Bacchus wine) or, as Barb F. put it, "gangrenous" Gabrinus, or Notburga (then shortened to Notty, as in a Snotty Notty) . . . the list goes on and on. The poor child-to-be. We're open to suggestions in case anyone reading this has any to offer.

And finally, here's a "family" picture taken yesterday on Dominik's birthday (26 June).

A Father's Day Surprise!

On Monday, 28 April, Dominik and I took a trip out to the Dundee Ninewells Hospital, about a 45min drive north of St. Andrews, for my first obstetric appointment. Once parked, we had a convoluted walk around the hospital trying to find where scanning and x-rays were done. We were directed to three different locations, the last being our final destination. As it turned out, the Prenatal Care Unit was still adjusting to their first morning in the temporary wing. The staff was polite and the midwives were helpful as I was told they would be housed there for the next 6 months.

After check in and a short wait in the makeshift lounge, a midwife led me to a quiet examination room where the ultrasound equipment was set up and asked me to lie down on the exam bed. She maneuvered a handheld scanner to my abdomen when, after making some slight adjustments because the fetus "was running away", she was finally able to locate "Harmut."

And there s/he was, heart tickin' away and arms swinging up and down! It was quite a special moment for Dominik and me in the small examinations room. It's a moment I will cherish forever. You can see from the scan that there is a smugged part above the fetus' trunk, which is the baby's arm moving up and down. But I think the coolest part was to look at the heartbeat. It was like the size of the end of your pinky finger and situated in the core of the chest cavity. They determined "Hartmut" to be 12 weeks and 5 days along from the scan (I had calculated 12 weeks and 4 days) and that s/he'll make her/his big debut on 7 November.

Since then, we've had blood work done and know that the fetus is at low risk for Down Syndrome, which is reassuring since I'm 33 and Dom is 36. I'm looking forward to knowing the sex of the baby, which we'll find out this coming Wednesday on my 20th week. And no, Dom and I don't want to wait! I had enough trouble waiting until the first ultrasound to see if there was one or two and if they/he/she had a heartbeat. I won't be able to wait until the end to the know the sex. But if you would like to be surprise, just make sure to let me know before I reveal too much.

Keep your fingers crossed that everything else goes well! Here's me at 18wks and 3days along, taken on 7 June 2008.

Hope you enjoyed the surprise. Happy Father's Day, Dad!