week 24 check up

Went to Ye Olde Bumrungrad hospital yesterday for my week 24 check up and for my second ultrasound. I was pretty hyped up about seeing the ultrasound. Never mind that the pregnant lady has to view things backwards and upside down most of the time, it's still a cool experience. 'What's that I see? Could be a liver, could be an ear! It's liv-ear!'

Ji and I got a lift to the BTS with the very nice Teacher Beth after school and then took the skytrain to Ploen Chit and walked up Sukhumvit Soi 1 past our old guesthouse, Street 1 Lodge, to get to the hospital. Ji kept nagging me to buy stuff. Curse his new appreciation for money and the things it can purchase. He's relentless. "Mum, can I get a satay stick? Mum, can we go into 7-11? Mum, can I get a soda? Mum, why can't we buy flower garlands? You used to buy flower garlands." I'm not a big buyer, so my standard response is to have one thing that I've said I'll buy ahead of time. Usually the purchase amounts to groceries, lunch, or perhaps a drink. Remember, I'm the one who gave him the kleenex box for christmas. Huh, come to think of it, maybe it's my miserly ways that are turning him capitalist. Ah well, if he becomes the first person in our family (on the Niedzwiecki side, anyways, and I guess on the Dwyer side) to make a big stack of money, you'll all have ME to thank when you're guests on his yacht and you're sitting back drinking Dom Perignon out of cut-diamond flutes.

I managed to put off buying anything other than skytrain tickets until we got to the hospital and then I treated Ji to a nice, fresh fruit juice and a bagel. After our snack we went upstairs to wait for Phet, who arrived just after 5:00. I went in to the imaging department to check in, and they told me that actually my appointment was for Friday. But luckily, Bumrungrad being a pay-it-yourself-get-good-service kind of place, they had no problem seeing me right away. Actually, I was seen faster than I ever had been when I did have an appointment. Weird.

We went in for the ultrasound right away and even from my poor perspective I could see that the baby appears to be healthy and well. It was very strangely calm and quiet, mind you. Definitely going to be another stubborn Sayo Niedzwiecki. Kicks constantly when we're not watching and then is as quiet and still as mouse when we've got it on screen. Mind you, we did see it have what sure as heck looked to be a poop. Like, the assistant was kind of roving around the buttocks area, and all of a sudden, swish! and a little bit of something seemed to exit. It was cool, but this anecdote will probably one day be the bane of number two's existence. After taking a quick-see, the doctor got down to business going through the key views and capturing them. Of course we were anxious to know whether she thought it was a boy or a girl, and we were thrilled when she passed over a certain area and found it lacking it certain dangly bits. One of the images was labelled "labia", so I think we are fairly safe in letting y'all know that this baby is either a girl, or a boy who is going to be really, really, really embarassed by our ultrasound stories later in life.

Let the name games begin! Please send in your personal favourites to fixed address for our perusal. While the Sayo aunts will likely get dibs on the naming rights, one of the truly fun games while you're pregnant is coming up with possible handles for your future spawn. Maybe we can have a prize for the reader who comes up with the best suggestion...

The rest of the ultrasound went straight-forwardly. Heart? Check. Liver? Check. Kidneys? Check. Legs, arms, head, hands, feet, eyeballs? Check. The only new information was that the computer now suggests a due date of 16 September. My original one was the 6th, then the 9th, and now the 16th, so who knows. Ji was early, so I'm ready to expect this one anytime after mid-August. We'll see how it all pans out. In the meantime, go buy those Barbie Princess shoes in the newborn size! Get some frilly underpants and pink tights! Order up a My Pretty Pony from Toys 'R Us! We're (probably) having a goil! [Number Two-18-May-2006]