Week 21: You need to measure my what??

Our long-awaited baby-viewing went incredibly well! Aside from my ignorance on how things in the medical world are done these days, everything else was amazing! We were told our baby is developing exactly the way he/she should be!

So what is it that I’m completely clueless about when it comes to ultrasounds? First, let’s back up and give you a little history on my personality when it comes to being poked, prodded, and most of all having to endure pain. In high school my best friends referred to me as, “The Fragile One” because unfortunately it didn’t take much to get me frazzled. I have a low pain tolerance and, therefore, do everything necessary to avoid it. Without going into too much detail, I’ll just say that I cried when I got my first “lady” check up. I knew once I got pregnant I was going to have to suck it up, endure a lot of pain, and be ok with having doctors and nurses invade my privacy in a very big way. Before each of our appointments, I have had to mentally prepare myself that something incredibly invasive might happen. For our ultrasound I didn’t even know if they were going to do the “goin up there” version or the more favorable “gel on the tummy” one!

Now that brings us to ultrasound day. I was told on the phone to come with a full bladder. So, like a good little rule follower I had held it in. When the technician led us into our room she informed me I could go ahead and hop up on the table. Since my urge to go to the bathroom had grown pretty intense I quickly asked her if she needed a urine sample first. When she gave me her reply I swear it was one of those moments you see on tv where they show you that in the character's mind he/she responds to the situation with horror and shock but then the scene cuts to how they are really responding on the outside and they look completely calm. She said, “Oh, first we’re just going to measure your cervix and then you can empty your bladder.” … Inside my head the scene had frozen and I had backed into the corner of the room shrieking in my scared little girl voice with my hands covering my face,. You’re going to measure my what? I know what a cervix is but how on earth do you measure one?? That sounded a little terrifying to a fragile person like me. And why hadn’t she given me a gown and a nice little privacy curtain to hide behind? When my imagination finally snapped back to reality I politely asked her if I needed to undress first. She said I just needed to unbutton the top button on my jeans... For those pregnant women out there who have never had their cervix measured….they can do it via “gel on the tummy” ultrasound these days. Absolutely nothing invasive about it at all! Yes, I do feel a little silly.

Seeing our baby was very surreal. It’s a life-changing moment where you realize you never want to go back to the life you had a moment ago, when you hadn’t seen your child. We also made it without finding out the sex. As soon as the technician said she knew Seth started biting his nails and rocking in his chair. Then he started giving me “the look” and I knew it was driving him crazy! I told him the intensity of wanting to know would pass and to stay strong!

My new pregnancy snack of choice: Tums. Heartburn hurts! (low pain tolerance remember)

Moms out there: Did you have any embarrassing moments like I did where you showed off just how little you know about the logistics of having a baby?