Gender Reveal and 20 Week Anatomy Scan

I knew I would be over the moon excited for either a little boy or girl…but I have to say, I am SUPER excited to reveal we’re having a little ballerina. I spent the day in shock because I went against all the old wives tales which pointed towards a boy, but it started settling in a day later and sheer excitement kicked in.

The ultrasound itself was a very poor experience, but I am making the best out of it. I found out we’re having a girl and everything appears to be in great shape/healthy.

I thought I had recognized the name of my technician as the same tech that did my dating scan…who happened to be very rude. To my disappointment when I got called in, it was her. I tried to keep positive and when I walked in I told her how excited I was to find out if we were having a boy or girl – she didn’t even respond. She seemed determined and focused…after all, I wasn’t there to find out the gender, I was there to get measurements done. When we got set up and started, she immediately seemed annoyed telling me to go empty my bladder right away. I told her that I had simply followed the instructions on my requisition that said 4 cups of water, 1 hour before. Anyways, when I got back, we got back to it. My 12 week tech let me watch the screen as she took the measurements, but this lady wouldn’t have any of that. It isn’t the end of the world because, again, I wasn’t there to have a fun time, it was to ensure I got proper measurements taken. I’ve heard from many friends that this 20 week scan usually takes about 1 hour, except she was done in 15 – 20 min. She went out to get my husband and turned the monitor so we could see the screen. My eyes lit up when I got to see our little baby fiddling around in there, waving at us and playing with her face – it was so precious. Too bad it only lasted about 1 minute before she took 4 screen shots within 15 seconds to send us home with and began cleaning up. Chad and I looked at each other in shock wondering whether she was the type who didn’t want to tell us what the gender was (some places won’t tell you and you have to go see your doctor instead), but we politely asked and she snapped at us saying “I don’t usually tell unless you ask!” (rewind to when I walked in, I explicitly told her that we wanted to know the gender), so she put the wand back on my tummy for literally 2 seconds and all we could see was a white blur on the monitor and she said “It’s a girl, here are your photos, congrats (signalling us to get out)”…now I’m no expert, but we both found that to be totally rude, weird and confusing. I asked her how she could tell and she answered in horror that she “just knew” in a tone of ‘how dare I question her’. There was nothing more we could do or say as we were both speechless, so we left. I would have to say most of my disappointment with the experience should be blamed on myself rather than the tech. I think I am more upset with the fact that I didn’t stand up for myself and express my desire to see our baby for a little bit longer, or even have the tech explain/show us how she could determine gender; instead I just clammed up and accepted it. I’m sharing this for anyone else that may be going through the same thing soon or future, you don’t need to be rude, but definitely be vocal with your desires. The worst they can say is “no”, but at least you asked and can’t say you didn’t try.

Since I feel totally ripped off on the whole experience (and it’s the last time to see our little angel until she is born), my husband and I decided to book in for a 4D Ultrasound! I always debated how safe ultrasounds were, so we’re cutting the shortest package in half and only doing 10 min max. I figure we wouldn’t have questioned it if the tech at my 20w took an extra 10 min, so why would adding it on in a separate session make the difference. Plus, it’s in a much better environment where they are all about the experience and show you their beautiful hands, feet, toes, profile etc. It’ll also be a nice confirmation for a girl before I go crazy with shopping (I just found out that the tech told my cousin they were having a girl and out came a boy! Could you imagine?).

Aside from all that drama, I finally feel like getting started on nursery planning and all that jazz. I won’t bore anyone with the million things that I want to buy, but have to share these shoes – aren’t the so precious?! 

I hope everyone had an amazing week! We harvested a ton of veggies from the garden, so I want to make some homemade healthy pasta sauce or chilli with my Mother in Law (amazing cook) who came to town this week! I’ll post the recipe if we get to that.

xxxo
Maja