Week 19 Scan

I'm always so impatient in the lead up to an ultrasound, but when scan day hits, a little bit of worry creeps in. What if there's something wrong? I think it's pretty normal to feel this way.

Ben and I met at the RPA hospital for our morphology scan. As soon as they begin and bub's fluttering heart appears on the screen, I feel this massive wave of relief and happiness. It's so cool to see what's happening in your belly! By now bub is looking a lot more developed. It was crazy being able to see all the tiny bones, organs and even eye lenses. Our 19-week baby was wiggling around, but shy; curled up in a ball and playing with its ear (you can see her/his arm up in the scan image).

The scan takes quite a long time (may have been 45 minutes or so) as they check all the organs and take measurements. Some checks require bub to be in certain positions. Our baby was quite content being tucked up small with his head right down, which was not helpful when the staff wanted to checks bubs lips and chin. After they prodded and poked my belly to encourage baby to move (which really tickles, by the way), I ended up getting off the bed and doing some starjumps! Then bub cooperated and stretched out, allowing the final measurements to be taken.

The good news: bub is doing just fine! All major organs are in place and developing well, and she/he is right on track for our due date of March 9.

The not-so-good-news: sorry if it makes you squeamish, but I have a little issue with where my placenta has positioned itself. The placenta can place itself at any point inside your womb (high, low, front, back, etc), and then it remains stuck there, kind of like a barnacle (haha, sorry, it's the best reference I could think of). The scan found that mine is very low – a little too low. This is an issue as it means it's in the way of bub's exit. This can cause all kinds of complications, and guarantees the requirement for a caesarean birth – pretty much my worst nightmare. However, there is a chance that everything will grow enough in there that it pushes the placenta up and out of the way. I'm really hoping that this is the case!

As a result, I have another scan booked for 34 weeks to check how everything is going. So this scan isn't the last time I see bub before D day after all! Fingers crossed things have changed by then, and that I don't have to go under the knife. In saying that, at the end of the day, all that matters is that everyone comes out of it happy and healthy. If that means a cesarean, then so be it. We'll see! x