Ultrasound scans on Baby #2..

Sorry about the rubbish quality of this picture, the
scan was already very dark and unclear due to it being
an internal one, and I took this photo on my phone so that
didn't help with the quality either.

Early ultrasound;

So the first ultrasound you have in the UK is at twelve weeks, but I didn’t know when I was going to hit the twelve week mark. I didn’t even have a midwife so I texted my friend and asked how she got her early dating scan, she said to go to the doctors and tell them you don’t know how far along you are and they should book one for you. I did that, and they didn’t book one. All they did was frown. They didn’t even refer me to a midwife. I was having bad cramping pains when I decided that I should get a doctor to check them out, to make sure everything was okay. Deep down I knew everything was fine, and that it was just growing pains, but I really wanted that early scan. So I guess in a way I kinda cheated my way into having one. Anyway, my friend agreed to come with me and we went straight to A & E.. I told them that I was having severe pains and they said to take a seat. We waited about two hours before I got seen. When I got seen they questioned me about the pains and about my pregnancy.. Because I didn’t have a midwife yet, they didn’t believe I was pregnant. I was there for about an hour before they decided that in order to book me a scan, I needed to do a pregnancy test for them. I told them they could just call my doctor because they did one for me when I went there, but they said no. They told me the hospital didn’t have any pregnancy tests left, and sent me away. My friend got a little pissed, and went up to the maternity ward and asked for a pregnancy test. They had loads. So I took the test and we went back down to A & E with it. They were a bit annoyed that I'd figured out that they lied to me and so they booked me a scan and told me it'd be in two days because I assured them it wasn't an emergency. Two days later, I went to the EPU (Early Pregnancy Unit) to have my scan. Because I was so early on it was an internal one (can I saw OUCH!). Everything was totally fine with the baby and I got told I was eight weeks and six days, making me due September 20th.

Twelve Week Ultrasound;

This was the first 'official' ultrasound I had. It's just a quick one where they measure the baby, check where everything is, and give you a due date. Everything was fine with Peanut and I got told I was fifteen weeks and three days. I had to go for my bloods afterwards so the ultrasound was really quick and I don't really have anything to write about on this one. The only thing I can really think of is I got really excited and thought  I saw boys parts during the examination, so I turned to the woman and asked if she could tell what it is yet and if I could find out.. Sadly she told me I had to wait until my twenty week ultrasound for the baby to be gendered. I had three different photos but I've only put the best one up, in all of them I thought that you could clearly see it's a boy (I'm sure you can notice too if you really look) but I found out that it was just the cord, ha ha.

Twenty Week Ultrasound;

We were there for ages with this scan. I mean I know it takes a little longer than the twelve week one because there are more things to check, but in all honesty the sonographer we had didn't seem to really know what she was doing as well as the sonographers I have had in every other scan (including Lilia's). She was explaining what she was doing when she checked the spine, kidneys, heart, brain, etc.. But she took a long time to do them. She is the only one that explained things and I did like that aspect of it, but she didn't seem that confident. Anyway, she couldn't finish her checks on Peanut's spine, kidneys, heart, or lips. So she sent me for a pee. When I came back she managed to finish checking the spine, but couldn't get anything else because Peanut was lying awkward. She sent James and I for a twenty minute walk, and when we came back she managed to get the kidneys done but couldn't get the lips or the heart done properly. We also had tokens for pictures, but she didn't give us any because the baby was in too awkward a position to give us one. We had to go back in a week to finish the checks and the woman promised us we'd get our pictures then. We asked if she could tell the gender and she had a look for us, but she struggled to tell what it was. I struggled too - at first I thought it was a girl, then I thought I saw a winky, then it disappeared and I thought it was a girl again.. She told us that there were three white lines, which typically means it's a little girl. James and I were a bit gutted, but we'd rather have a healthy girl than an unhealthy boy. Anyways, we went back eight days later and Peanut was being awkward again! I had to lie on my side for two minutes and then  the technician tried again.. Still no luck, so I had to lie on my side for TEN minutes and then Peanut moved. The technician was able to check everything with Peanut's heart, but he was still being awkward with his lips - he kept putting his hand in the way or moving his head. The woman was SOOO nice and definitely the friendliest sonographer I'd had in both my pregnancies.. She kept saying how cute the baby was and she seemed really into the scan. She asked about us and if we had any other kids, when I mentioned Lilia she spoke about her and really interacted with us :). Anyways, she said we'd give him a break and asked us if there's anything we'd like to do - like have a view of the baby's bits.. So we asked if she could confirm the baby's gender for us. We told her we'd been told it was a girl, but the woman wasn't sure, so we'd like her to check for us. She agreed to it, and we saw a flash of two balls and a willy! She said "Actually.. I think it's a boy!" And checked again. Then, another sonographer walked in with some paperwork ready for the next woman who was going to be scanned. She closed the curtain so she couldn't see us and apologised. The sonographer asked if we minded her looking and we said no. So she called the other woman to come and have a look to see what she thought the baby was. She whispered to the other woman what she thought it was. Our sonographer told us that it is definitely a boy, and we had another look at the bits! It is DEFINITELY a boy, ha ha. After that, our sonographer tried to get the lips in view but Peanut was STILL being awkward. So the other sonographer tried and she managed to get them eventually. All is fine with Peanut, and they didn't say anything about a due date so I'm guessing it's still the same.