We had the 22 week anomaly scan today, and boy was I nervous. With a less-than-straightforward pregnancy so far, and various issues possibly rearing their ugly head, I was sick I was so nervous.
Having drunk a swimming pool worth of water, I headed up to the hospital with David. Luckily we had a different sonographer - I didn't like the previous lady one bit, and I think part of the nervousness was due to that, as well as the "what could go wrong" worries.
The sonographer didn't have that much of a sense of humour, but was very thorough. I could see the screen across the room, David kept an eye on the one next to me. There's definitely a baby in there, and Beanlet was measured within an inch of her/his life. Nosebone, femur, humerous, skull... all present and within normal ranges (although the head circumference is above average - OUCH!). All internal organs present and correct, although this involved a lot of poking around as Beanlet was NOT co-operating, little wriggly-pants!
I think it's a cruel sport making pregnant ladies drink excessive amounts prior to a scan, as the pressure that is put on your bladder by the sonographer, let alone the leprechaun tapdancing on it inside, is really quite close to being embarrassing. Especially during the 22 week scan, as it is quite involved and lengthy. But I held on - just. I do now feel that I've gone 5 rounds with Tyson.
The heart scan was the coolest - the scan was really close-up and in COLOUR - they highlighted the contrast in each chamber with colour pixels, to check that the blood wasn't moving where it shouldn't, and that there was only the proper "hole in the heart" (which closes up when a baby is born), and not anything more sinister. All blood vessels were also present and correct, and really clear on the scan. I got a picture, but it doesn't do the scan detail justice - I wish we'd taken the video camera as that would have been awesome. Doh! Also, I was on my side for most of the heart scan so missed a lot of the detail on that, though I saw enough to amaze me.
And for those of you who want to know already, it's a.........................................
.....................
..................................
...........
...BABY!
We didn't find out, and the sonographer kindly didn't show us, despite Beanlet flashing his/her legs around like nobody's business. It will be a nice surprise!
[PS. For slightly more hi-tech images than a black and grey blur, check out Channel 4 at 9pm on Thursday night (7th April) for some amazing 3d and 4d images of a baby developing in-utero.]