The Scans – AKA Is that really inside you?!

In the build up to my now Sister-in-Laws’s wedding we didn’t want to focus too much on the pregnancy apart from remembering the folic acid and my Wife’s unfortunate position of being the only sober person in the room come the first dance. However, soon after the wedding came the 13-week scan. We went to our local antenatal unit armed with enough pound coins to both purchase a picture and pay for parking (which we ended up paying for twice due to initially parking in the wrong place – a mistake I am planning to learn from come the day of the birth!) and were not sure what to expect.

We were early and so watched the other mother’s-to-be coming in. It was a bit like seeing snapshots of the future and in my imagination I could see all the different stages of the journey we are about to partake in. From my non-showing wife to a slight bump all the way through to a bump of beach-ball sized proportions! We also saw couples with kid’s in tow, all the while knowing that we would be coming back in the same situation as them some years ahead. It was comforting to see that everyone seemed happy despite the early hour or how many children they had in tow!

When we were called into the room my wife lay down, exposed her very slight bump (I have been informed that she was very glad to have been wearing leggings at that moment!), endured the cold lotion and there it was straight away. That moment of actually seeing your child for the first time is unbelievable! To be honest neither of you really thinks there is anything there up until this point. My wife was lucky enough to not get morning sickness and so there wasn’t really much evidence that our baby was growing inside her! I was expecting to see a vague peanut like shape and for the midwife to be pointing at it and tring to convince me it was a baby! But it looked, perhaps unsuprisingly looking back, actually like a baby! if my jaw hadn’t hit the floor by then it most certainly did when the baby actually started moving around! Now it was only about 6cm across and couldn’t be felt but I cannot imagine what it is actually like for the Mother to know that it is inside her. It must be a wonderful feeling – it’s pretty amazing for the Dad too!