The 20 Week Scan
Posted by James | Posted in My Timeline, Pregnancy | Posted on 06-06-2012
Today we had our 20 week scan. I can’t believe we are already half way through the pregnancy!
Since this was our second scan, I had a better idea of what to expect. You sit in the waiting room until the scan technician is ready, you get called through into the scan room,which for us was a very small room that could only just fit a hospital bed, another chair, the scan machine, a swivel chair for the operator and a computer in the corner. Today there was a student in learning how to do scans, which was great for us because it meant our scan lasted way longer than normal. He got to operate the scanner while the qualified technician told him where to point it on my wife’s stomach, pointing out bits to lookout for and showing him how to work the scanning machine. It all looked very complicated and hats off to anyone who can do that!
Anyway, as he was getting “shown the ropes”,my wife and I got to watch our baby moving around.
There is so much more detail to see now. The arms and legs and better formed, you can see fingers and just about make out some facial features. It was incredible to see the baby in so much detail. I think it looks like me already!
As the student technician moved the scanner slowly, my wife was convinced she saw it was a boy,but I am not convinced. Even if she did see something, it could have been anything in there. When I say there is a lot of detail to see, it’s only really apparent when a trained eye points it out to you, so I’m going to ignore her hunch. I actually think it’s going to be a girl.
The purpose of the scan is to check the baby is growing at the correct rate, and nothing unexpected shows up in the scan. Everything looked fine,and the technician plotted the sizes onto a graph to show us it was bang on track for the size.
Just with the first scan, we got a printout photograph of the baby to take away with us. For me, I was relieved everything was ok with the baby, it’s good to know the professionals are happy with how it is being cooked up!
