It’s true. We are going to be parents soon!

Published: http://www.yash.ca/
On: July 14, 2008
At: Toronto, Canada

It is January the 24th (2007) today. It is a lovely day outside. I am up, bright and early as I am too excited to sleep my regular hours. I am heading for an important ultrasound this morning. I have done a pregnancy test and I know Santosh and I are going to be parents of a beautiful child, but doubts are lurking in my head and I am hoping today’s ultrasound will do away with them.
At 8:30 a.m. I walk into the clinic for my first ever ultrasound, full of fear and anxiety. I was told to have a full bladder. I must drink lots of water one hour prior to the procedure. This will help to move the intestines out of the way and aid in distinguishing various fetal parts. As the technologist takes my health card and asks me to wait, I can only think of going to the washroom to relieve myself. It is too much of a pain to sit still! A few minutes more of waiting, and I am ushered in by a sweet bespectacled lady. I am asked to change my clothes. I slip into a blue gown, and then join her in room no. 3.
As I enter in , I lie down on my back. She proceeds with the transabdominal ultrasound process of putting a lubricating gel on my growing tummy, placing a probe over the gel and moving it all around on the abdomen. Sound waves pass through my abdomen to the fetus and bounce back to create the fetal image on an electronic monitor.I look at her with growing anxiety, fear knotting my stomach.
Am I really pregnant? Is everything okay with the baby? How old is the baby? When am I due? Can I see him? All kinds of questions creep in my mind like snakes in the plane. I am wating with a bated breath for the verdict. I cannot wait anymore. I finally blurt out, "Am I pregnant"? She gives me an amused look, and asks if I did my pregnancy test. I hesitantly tell her that I did but that I was still confused.
She further probes me if this was my first pregnancy, and if I was new to Canada. I wonder what it has got to do with my pregnancy. Finally she laughs and answers my question: Yes, you are pregnant. I probe her further: how old is the baby? She hesitantly answers, approximately 14 weeks. Wow! I can’t believe it. I have to see the baby myself.
After doing few more measurements, she calls in Santosh. Moving the monitor towards us, we watch with anticipation and joy. I see my baby on the screen, yes, with my own eyes! The tiny hands that are going to hold my hands, his newly formed face, eyes, body, limbs, abdomen, shoulder, spinal chord, and his beautiful throbbing heart. Yes, I hear his heart beat too. It is like the sound of a water stream rushing in. My eyes well up with tears. Is it out of happiness? Disbelief? I have no idea. In a blur, I enter the washroom, change my clothes, and come out with my baby's picture in hand.
Santosh and I come out of the lab smiling. It is true! We are going to be proud parents of a wonderful son. I am determined to give the best to my baby.