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!