On Water, Restrooms, and Ultrasounds

Since it’s been almost a whole week, I thought I should probably get around to writing a post about the ultrasound we had last Friday.

I’m just a little behind.

Time flies when you’re busy resting on the couch and taking naps.

First of all, it’s nothing short of a miracle that we made it to the right place to have the ultrasound. We were actually supposed to have it two weeks earlier, but missed our appointment because we ended up at the wrong hospital.

How is that possible you wonder?

Well, there are two hospitals downtown. We thought we knew where we were going, and followed the blue signs with the big H. Wouldn’t you know, they lead to the other hospital. By then we were way too late and had to reschedule.

It almost killed me, because I was desperate to know if we were having a boy or girl.

And I’d drank all that water, and we couldn’t find a gas station downtown with a bathroom.

So this time we went to the right hospital. But once we got there we had no  idea what wing we were supposed to be in, much less which lot to park in.

This particular hospital is an amalgamation of 27 different buildings with about twice as many entrances. We ruled out the Neuro-Science building, the Heart Research Center and few others, and finally settled on the Medical Specialties building.

Now most big medical facilities have a convenient little directory telling you which floor which department and doctor is on.

Not this one.

It just had an elevator.

A nice woman saw me standing in the lobby looking confused, and told me ultrasound was down the hall.

We got to the receptionist’s desk in the lab at 7:55 a.m. Without even looking up from her desk, she told me to sit down and she’d be with me in a few minutes. Apparently they didn’t open until 8 o’clock, and she wasn’t about to help me a minute sooner.

After sitting and looking around at posters about kidney health and gall bladders, I decided I probably was in the wrong place. By then it was 8 o’ clock, but instead of helping me first she took four other people who’d come in after me.

I got a little irritated, and worried that we were going to miss our 8:15 appointment where ever it was on that huge medical campus. Finally it was my turn, and she told me, in not such a friendly way, that I was supposed to be upstairs.

Here’s a little aside. In the last two weeks I’ve encountered three rude medical industry employees. I know you have bad days like the rest of us, but how about some customer service? Considering how much we and our insurance companies are shelling out, you could at least be nice to us.

Even if we are morons who can’t figure out where we are going.

At last we were in the right place on time.

By that then I would have given anything to be able to use the bathroom.

With all our modern technology can’t they come up with some other way to do this besides making pregnant women drink inordinate amounts of water, and then refusing them use of the restroom?

Torture in it’s purest form.

I thought the Obama administration made that illegal.

It’s one thing when you have to go and can’t because you’re in a car. But it’s completely different when your body is telling you to GO NOW! and you’re starring right at a bathroom. Your mind knows what you should be doing, but you can’t. It’s almost an out-of-body experience. It took everything in me not run right through that door.

In the ultrasound room, lying down did give me a little relief for awhile.

The whole time all David wanted to know was if it was a boy of a girl, and he pestered the ultrasound technician until she got to that part of the exam. He’d been telling us for weeks it most certainly was going to be a boy. I was worried what he would do if it turned out to be a girl. But I did want a girl. Oh, I love David so much, but it would be nice to get to buy some pink polka dotted dresses and dolls.

Well, the ultrasound technician informed us that it was, without a doubt, a boy.

To that David simply replied, “I told you it was boy.” He’s in for a rude awakening when he realizes someday he can not make the sun set in the east simply from the shear force of his own will.

Not long after that I started getting dizzy and felt like I was going to pass out. I didn’t know you could get dizzy and pass out while lying down. Usually you say, “I’m dizzy and feel like I’m going to pass out,” and people tell you to lie down.

At that point the technician let me sit up, and asked me if i wanted to use the bathroom. You had to ask? I was so grateful to her. If she’d given me a million dollars I would not have been half as happy at that moment.

Much relived and back on the table lying on my side, I was able to concentrate more on the picture on the screen. But I still couldn’t make out much. I’m glad the technician knew what she was looking at.

There was one point when little Wade Campbell, oh, that’s his name by the way, did appear to be giving us a thumbs up. “Hi Mom and Dad! Everything is cool in here!” That or he was giving his big brother a “Right On!” for getting his sex right, and proving the rest of us wrong.

We had a 3-D ultrasound which is pretty neat. You end up with pictures that do show the baby’s features a lot more clearly.

So from all appearance little Wade is normal and healthy, something I am extremely thankful for. And I really don’t mind that we are having another boy. I will just have to get my pink fix some other way.

I’m going to go use the bathroom now.

Because I can.