Last Friday was a momentous occasion for both Chantelle and myself – it marked our first ever ultrasound scan of the Jellybean, at last turning what is currently said to be so into something that is more of a concrete reality – an affirmation that in a couple of months’ time, I WILL be a father.
And that simply put, is big.
I requested to work the day from home and so late Friday morning I found myself following Chantelle’s Getz down the N1 in order to make our appointment at Louis Leipoldt in Bellville, one of the oldest private hospitals in the Western Cape and co-incidentally the hospital at which both Chantelle and I were originally delivered. Now the reason we were coming all the way out there instead of going to the much closer Vergelegen in Somerset West is partly due to restrictions placed upon us by Chantelle’s KeyCare Discovery medical aid plan and partly due to the high recommendations this one particular gynaecologist was receiving from all our friends: Dr. Adele Roux.
The visit itself wasn’t particularly long or complicated, we eventually found the right building after starting out at the wrong one, we found Dr. Roux’s offices, Chantelle filled out the necessary forms while I admired the rented Bonsai trees and paged through those magazines that only seem to exist in doctors’ quarters, before Dr. Roux called us in for our turn.
Pleasingly Dr. Roux came across exactly as she had been described to us by our friends and I must say, after my first impression and meeting with this woman, I really am quite fond of her as a doctor and really wouldn’t mind sticking with her all the way through this great event of ours. We had an enjoyable chat covering all the usual things first time would be parents talk about I suppose, before she led Chantelle into a little side room where they covered everything that needed to be covered, before I got the call up to come and join them and have a little look-see.
And there it was – my little Jellybean, the result of mommy’s and daddy’s chromosomes getting friendly with one another!
It really is an amazing sight. There isn’t much there to see, some dark areas and some light spots, but once the doctor started talking us through it all and the moment I saw that tiny little heart beating like there’s no tomorrow in that small shapeless blob, I can’t even begin to explain the emotions that ran through my body. (Though if it helps, Chantelle is said to have shed a tear on seeing that grainy black and white image!)
That is my child.
From the measurement of 19mm in length, the machine places our child to be at 8 weeks and 3 days old, meaning that if all goes well we will be looking at a birth somewhere around the 13th of January 2011 – so if that isn’t something to look forward to, then I certainly don’t know what is! :)
Our Jellybean. You can already see its little arms and legs protuding out of the main blobby.
(P.S. Despite the fact that Chantelle has not managed to produce the twins I had put in our contract, I’m sure she’ll be relieved to hear that I’m not going to divorce her after all – just in case she’s still wondering! :P)
(P.P.S. I had the doctor highlight every nook and cranny to make sure the second Jellybean wasn’t hiding anywhere. This proved to be particularly difficult with Chantelle laughing the whole time.)