Pregnancy scans are like double edged swords; before them you feel excited that you will get to see your baby but at the same time the days leading up to them you find your head filled with all sorts of questions and worries.
We had our 20 week scan on Friday afternoon and to be honest I think I was a bit more relaxed that the first time round but still the week before I found myself getting butterflies whenever my thoughts wondered on to the subject. I was so excited about finding out the sex of the baby but more importantly I was worried about everything being ok.
At the 12 week scan I was terrified, I was actually shaking and nearly threw up. This was mostly due to the fact we were left waiting for around 40 mins and waiting rooms fill me with nerves even if its not me that's being seen. A bit like how seeing a policeman always make you think you have done something wrong...
I was dreading the wait at the 20 week scan and made sure we arrived exactly on time and no earlier. Friday morning was filled with cleaning and washing and doing anything I could to take my mind off it. When we arrived we checked into reception and were given a sheet of information and told to go and sit in the waiting room. I tried to read the information but the writing just blurred together. Amazingly we only had to wait about 3 minutes after our appointment time!
We were called into the ultra sound room and I jumped up on the couch where the nurse kindly yanked down my leggings and wrapped some tissue around. They always pull you trousers right down passed your knicker line and I found myself thinking," shit, why didn't I tidy up down there", yet again. But at the end of the day this was an appointment to see your baby not feel guilty about your unruly pubes!
The sonographer then got my details up on the computer before asking if we had any questions and placing the Doppler on my belly. Within seconds our wee baba was on the screen and I felt a sense of calm. The 20 week scan takes a little longer that the 12 as they carry out quite thorough checks . Our sonographer began by checking the baby's brain and announcing "good, it's defiantly got one", she then went on to check the baby's heart and its four chambers, before moving on to the spine. At this point I didn't have a clue what we should or shouldn't be seeing but I was so mesmerised with looking at the baby moving around that it did take my mind off things slightly.
She then checked the babies face which was a bit scary to be honest as all we could see was this skeletal face looking right at us! They also have a look to see all the vital organs are there and looking as they should before measuring the femur, waist circumference and a foot!
Seeing the wee foot was amazing, we never got to see that with Rosie! In fact I think we were given much more lengthy, in depth scans with this baby and found the sonographers spent a lot of time explaining what each part was etc.
The final check was of my placenta which really just looks like a big black mass. After everything was checked and ok'd she had a look between the babies legs and announced that although they cannot be 100% the three lines that she could see indicated that it was another girl!!
Once the scan was over she let us choose the picture we wanted - I must point out that we are charged at £1 per picture and that in some hospitals it can be £5, so please be aware of this. We were caught out the first time but luckily the sonographer sneaked us a couple of pictures! This time we totally forgot even though I had said to myself a million times to remember change! Again the sonographer let us away (it was a different one to the first) and she actually gave us four picture instead of just the two we choose.
She told us that everything seemed normal and the baby was developing as should. The only concern is that my placenta is growing where my c-section scar is and sometimes they can grow into the scar (blurgh) so I have to have another scan at 34 weeks. I can't wait to see how big the baby is then!
It was such a great experience and we left with massive grins on our faces and a huge sense of relief. It all seems a bit more real now especially since I am experiencing big kicks now, Tom actually felt it the other day! We them went home to tell Rosie that is is going to have a sister.
Here are some pictures of the scan, the sonographer even included the foot picture!!!!
Love Sophie XoX
