Detailed Scan

Finally! Today is the day of my detailed scan, aka Fetal Anomaly Scan! It's been more than 1 month since I saw the little one on screen, but he never fail to remind me of his presence with his regular movements.

According to a brochure I obtained from the ultrasound centre, the FA scan is a detailed 2D ultrasound scan which is performed at 20 to 22 weeks to check the physical development of the fetus and measures the fetal growth parameters. The fetal brain, nose, lips, heart, spine, stomach, bowel, kidneys and limbs are best assessed at this stage to detect structural abnormalities. The fetal gender is usually known during this scan as well. Through this scan, the location of the placenta and amount of amniotic fluid present around the baby can be determined.

My appointment was for 11am. Since P's school bus usually comes at around 10.20am, I thought I will head down to the waiting area and send her off on the school bus, before going for my detailed scan. Boy, was P happy to see me. In fact, she spotted me when I was about 20m away. She was with my mil's maid, who as seated backfacing me. P happens to be facing in my direction and I waved at her. From a distance, I could tell she was mouthing "mama, mama..." Once I got within 5m of the waiting area, she jumped off the bench and ran to me. I stayed there for another 10 min and got to meet the other 2 girls whom P boards the school bus with. When the bus came, mil's maid passed her over to the bus aunty and she was placed on the 1st row of seats. She waved bye to us happily and for a fleeting moment, I felt a gush of emotions (pregnancy hormones at work). My girl has gotten over the crying phase and she is growing up too quickly!

I arrived at Thomson Diagnostic Ultrasound Centre at Novena Medical Centre about 10 minutes before my appointment time. I handed over my appointment slip and was told to take a seat before they called my name for registration. There were about 3 couples at the waiting area and I knew I will be in some for wait. P's detailed scan was conducted at Thomson Medical Centre, and the wait was very long. I was more prepared this time, with a fully charged phone and a partially charged power bank that should be able to take my gaming to the end of the wait. True enough, it was another half an hour before they called me into the room.

The sonographer was a friendly middle aged woman whose first question was "Hubby didn't come with you?" Thinking back, I must have been the only one who came without a partner, wondered if the other couples thought I'm a single mother, hee hee. Anyway, if my gynae visit at Week 16 hadn't revealed the gender of #2, hubby would probably have made more effort to come. The sonographer brought me through the major organs of the baby. She pointed out the body parts, but to be honest I can't decipher the images at all. At one point in time, I asked her how she can do it so easily and she was like "you don't believe me?" Oops, it sounded like I doubted her ability, but I was just curious because what's on screen is just a sea of black and white to me. She told me not to worry and she will do a detailed check, and if she spots anything amiss, she will let me know immediately. While trying to scan the head circumference of baby, she told me she couldn't get a good measurement because he is in a vertical position (whatever that means). After numerous tries and turns, she couldn't get what she wanted, so I was asked to go out for a walk and come back later to scan again in the hope that baby will get into a better position. And so, it was another 20 min of waiting... Luckily, she got her measurements when I returned. The report took 5 minutes to print, and I was out of the centre at 12.30pm.

My intention was to go straight to my gynae (she's supposed to explain the report to me), but a quick phone call told me they were closed for the afternoon, and full for tomorrow. The earliest slot would be after CNY, bleah! I took my lunch at Quizno Subs and went to AMK hub for a pedicure and haircut. Man, I don't think I've ever seen the Nail Palace so crowded in my life. They were actually operating at full capacity, and I was lucky enough to get the last seat. Whoever's behind me will need to wait for someone else to finish. I was seriously contemplating whether to get a coat of festive color on my toenails (worried about the effects on the fetus), but the pedicurist sold me. She told me many of her customers did pedicures with nail polish all the way till they deliver. I gave in to the temptation and my toenails are now flashing red, whee!! I had my hair trimmed after the pedicure, and it felt really good to pamper myself for the afternoon.

4 more days to CNY, can't wait! Question of the year will no longer be "When are you having a second child?"
"Boy or Girl?" I already have an answer ;)