Week 13: the first scan

Wednesday 5th October, 3.30pm

After a stressful first visit to Whipps Cross Hospital, eventually finding a parking space near the main entrance only to discover that the maternity unit is about half a mile away on the other side of the site, and an uncomfortably long wait in the too hot waiting area full of frazzled looking pregnant women, Jon and I finally found ourselves in the relative peace and tranquillity of the ultrasound room, staring delightedly at the blurry image on the screen. The 12 (or in our case 13 and a half) week scan is such a milestone for parents-to-be, the first time you see your little baby on the screen, and you can finally tell the world the happy secret you may have been keeping for the past couple of months. In my case, most of my work colleagues had figured it out long ago, as I had already moved from my normal job in the lab to a desk-based role to keep me and the little bump safe from potentially harmful lab chemicals. It was still nice to make it all official, and I brought in some cakes the day after the scan to celebrate, laughing at the bemused faces trying to figure out where the baby's head was on my scan photo.

Bumpy at 13 weeks, 2 days

We were so relieved to hear that everything looked normal with the baby, my due date was put back three days to April 9th 2012, and the little one was measuring in at 7.1cm from crown-to rump. Everything seems a lot more real now!