I had my 19-week scan on Tuesday morning and because the foetus is now considerably larger, I didn't have to do it with a full bladder. My sister-in-law came along with us, because although she is the grandmother of two young children, she hasn't actually been to an ultrasound scan.
Bean was wriggling around as usual when the scan was done and the first things we saw were his spine and ribs as he had his back to us. Later on, the sonographer located the heart, kidneys, bladder, brain and checked that all vital organs appeared normal.
As she moved down to check his legs, we could see him playing with the umbilical cord. And then the sonographer told us, we are expecting a little boy! This came as no surprise since I'd already got a good feeling it was a boy right from the start. We even got to see his little testes and tiny pecker, all already fully formed even at this stage!
I wasn't really overwhelmed at the scan but my sister-in-law was quite tearful. But I must admit there's definitely something special about seeing a tiny little life on the screen, so vulnerable yet so perfect even though it is so small and delicate. And seeing that surely reaffirms the fact that I am REALLY pregnant, and not just getting fat.
My sister-in-law dropped me off at home after the scan and several hours later, popped by again with some newborn baby-gros. You could definitely tell how excited she was about her nephew!
I spent last weekend taking some teenagers away to West Wales for two nights to work on our project and that really tired me out. To make matters worse, I slipped on an icy mild slope one morning and hurt my ankle. Bean wasn't hurt thankfully, but I spent the week limping around in agony.
This week I also had a meeting with my HR coordinator to go through a risk assessment form for pregnant women, which highlighted what I should/should not be doing at work. E.g. no moving of heavy items, take regular breaks etc. Now with my bump more visible, everyone at work is looking after me a bit more, which is really nice.
My sense of smell is heightened this week, so if I smell food when I am not having a meal myself it, makes my stomach turn. Poor R had to eat a bowl of cereal for dinner one night when he came home after a late shift because he said "it's the only food that has no smell".
I have also discovered that if I stick to small portions of food throughout the day, I have no problems with heartburn and indigestion, so that's what I have been doing the whole week. I've also been religiously practising yoga at home every other day just to keep my body flexible.
With Bean growing bigger by day, his kicks and punches are also a lot stronger and I can now feel him moving about every few hours, having fun in the womb.
Next week, we will be flying back to Singapore to spend Chinese New Year with my family and it will be the first time they are seeing me with a visible bump. I do hope they don't find it too weird, as I do sometimes, when I look at myself in the mirror and wonder, WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED THERE?
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