We went for the 18-week ultrasound yesterday. (Except it was 20 weeks, but whatever.) Card and envelope in hand, we went in planning to ask the tech to write down baby’s gender and seal the card for us to open later if we chose to. Apparently, though, the clinic has a policy about not writing anything down. (Previous issues with handwriting? Who knows.) In any case, she said she’d note it on one of the pictures so we could find out that way.
This was great in theory.
We picked up the pictures from the front desk and didn’t peek. We went out for brunch and didn’t peek. We got home, put the envelope on the counter and didn’t peek.
I was so very tempted to. My husband would have opened it up right away, but I was still wavering about whether or not I wanted to know. I did but I didn’t. I wanted to know but didn’t want to lose the possibility of one or the other.
And then my sister dropped by on her way home from work right as my husband was about to leave for a class.
Oh screw it, I said. Let’s open it.
I peered down into the 8.5×11 envelope, still not really wanting to look. My husband, bless his heart, didn’t rip it out of my hands.
But I couldn’t do it, so I handed it to them. You look!
I held my breath while my husband took the page of pictures out of the envelope. He and my sister scanned it in silence for a moment while I waited for some sign on their faces that they knew. But none came.
They scanned again. Hands, feet, spine, ankles – all kinds of body parts were labelled but not the one we were looking for. I came around and looked with them. All the pictures were the ones we’d already seen, and none looked like one that might have been taken when the tech turned our screen off. There was no label – no GIRL or BOY – that gave us we were looking for. And believe me, we looked.
So much for that.
My husband intends to call the clinic today to see if he can find out, but I’m less optimistic that they’ll tell him anything over the phone. So maybe we will get to find out, and maybe we won’t.
Do you think this is a sign that we’re not supposed to know?
Still a cute little peanut, isn't s/he?
