the phantom willy
What an amusing experience. Our scan appointment was sent to us in a letter saying our time was 8.15am. With it was a covering letter saying that as the department didn't open until 9 we had to go in via a side door - I wasn't sure if that meant we were supposed to do our own scan or what but it seemed a bit disorganised to say the least! Anyway after getting lost in the hospital grounds trying to park the car(!) we found our way in and then had to wait half an hour before the department opened for our scan. Is the NHS really SO disorganised?? When we went in there was a lovely midife who was training to be a sonographer doing our scan - she was not at all bothered by the fact we were being cared for independently and even congratulated us on our decision. She was slow (still learning) but sweet and showed us every part of the new raven chick as it came up on her screen...so amazing to see a picture of something that has gone through me and through another human - we could see the seperate chambers of the chick's heart. If you read it in a book and hadn't seen it you'd think it was sci-fi I'm sure. She showed us what she thought was a testicle and then tried to get all her measurements to conclude the scan once she had seen everything was fine and well...unfortunately the chick was wriggling around so much she couldn't get the last two measurements so we had to go for a walk around the hospital to try to get the baby to turn around into a better position. On our return we were seen by the senior sonographer who was annoyed we were not 'conventional' and had no hospital notes, and didn't like the fact that we were basing our due date on my knowledge of my body rather than a dating scan(!) but after a bit of sweet-talking him he came round to us and actually ended up being very kind to us and giving us two little scan pictures of the raven chick.....who he was quite sure is a girl!!!!!!!!! As he is senior and the midwife was training we are inclined to go with his diagnosis of gender and just have a back-up boy's name just in case. But what a rollercoaster ride - during our walk we were discussing how it might be to have a girl and a boy only to find out we should have been thinking about two girls! Obviously it doesn't matter at all who we have - they are healthy and have all the right organs in the right places and are a little on the large side (like the baby bird was) so all is well. But I was amused by it all....
posted by raven at 8:10 pm
6 Comments:
Wow- not very conclusive- but it sounds like you're thinking that she's probably a girl. Hospitals are strange places- always making people wait so long...
I'm glad to hear that your chick is healthy. When are you due, again? What sort of understanding of your pregnancy (if any) does your other little raven chick have? I guess you probably aren't looking that pregnant yet, hey?
We're due around the middle of may...so about 16 weeks to go now - and actually I do look pregnant. Not comically so yet but there is a definite swelling in my belly and I need to wear comically waisted trousers...!
You cn see my belly move sometimes as well when I'm sitting down - particularly when I'm playing the flute - the raven chick really dances (or protests)!
Oh, and I don't really know how much the baby bird understands but we do tell her about the little baby and she connects it to my belly. She lifts up my top and cuddles my belly, kisses it and then says 'ooh, baby' in a sweet little nurturing-imitation voice. And she's obsessed with real babies at the moment. She spent 20 minutes at a playgroup lying on her belly just watching a tiny baby suck a ball and everytime the baby dropped it my baby bird clapped (she thought the baby was throwing it) and gave it back to the baby before resuming her viewing position and stroking the baby's foot! I wonder how much jealousy will get in the way of her love....
Baby bird with that other baby- what a lovely story! I'll be curious to hear what the arrival of new chick will be like for her... Even when a child acts in a nurturing way toward a new sibling, it can partly motivated by an understanding that that is how they get parental approval and attention- 'being nurturing' like the mother.. -Just wanted to make the point- even though it's totally clear that that's not what little raven was doing in that adorable story.
The catholic family I nannied for with 4 boys, each 2 years older (some 1.5) than the next, had a really loving relationship with one another- although occasionally there would be a little bit of sibling competitiveness- so I’m not saying genuine sibling nurturing doesn’t exist. It’s just that sometimes the oldest child (as you already know) falls into a ‘little mother’ role, which can be sometimes a really inauthentic mask compared to what they’re really feeling and needing.
But that was all just qualifications, but really I agree with you- it’s wonderful to see children be loving with one another- especially toward more vulnerable ones- wanting to help out (play catch with little babies..).. (That was such a cute story..)
Thanks for the warning. I am aware that it will not be at all easy for the baby bird to adjust to the new family dynamic...and of course to a degree she is copying me and knowing she will be 'rewarded' for doing so, however I never point out the babies we see on a day to day basis and actually sometimes it's a bit embarassing when we're in a shop or something and she goes over to a baby and sits with infatuation beside it so she's not always met with positive responses! She is generally a very caring child and I think she will find some aspects of being an older sibling quite rewarding. And as for her jealousy and masked feelings - well at least I've been there in that situation myself and remember it clearly so I can at have some empathy with her and notice hopefully fairly soon how she is really feeling about things. I also think the playmate you get and the skills you develop in being part of a family with more than one child far outweighs the difficulties of having to share your parents. Also, I think sometimes a family with one child can perhaps put too much pressure on the child simply because that is all they have.... Anyway, obviously I will do things wrong and obviously the baby bird will find things challenging in her life...my aim is to damage her as little as possible and let her find her own way....
Little Raven sounds adorably sweet. You should get more you tube videos of her... I want to see some of this action!
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