Week 19: It's a ...........

....... boy!

No surprise really given Fatt's three younger brothers. Plus my Dad predicted it would be a boy (on a hunch) and my Mum predicted it would be a boy by asking about my pulse...

I think Fatt is a little disappointed. I'm making a huge generalisation here, but girls do tend to be a bit more caring towards their families their boys. But I don't care if it's a boy or a girl so long as he/she is healthy and happy.

So we switched hospitals and I chose a doc who'd learnt all his stuff in London. The hospital was seemingly chaotic and manic - people rushing here and there. The other one we'd been to was much calmer. On the other hand, this hospital made sure I saw the doc within 10 minutes. At the other one it was usually anything from 20 minutes to an hour.

This doc was great though - very frank, straightforward. None of the 'look it up on the internet' malarkey, or 'take a 4D scan at 7 weeks' rubbish. He did have an emergency to attend to though and so we checked out the birthing facilities.

There's only one natural birth unit. We asked what would happen if it was busy. The nurse looked puzzled and said it wouldn't be. This hospital, note, has a 70% C-section rate. Of course many of those are elective though.

We also passed a room full of tiny newborns with thatches of thick dark hair, swaddled tightly in a row of transparent cribs. They slept, yawned and mewed behind the silent glass. Awesome.

The doc did my '20-week' ultrasound. I'm officially 19 weeks but head and body measurements were coming up 21 weeks! I blame the big head on Fatt. When he checked the nether regions, "It's definitely a boy," he said.

As a freebie, he threw in about 20 seconds of 4D footage - where you get to see the baby in 3D plus movement i.e. video. At first it was hard to make out anything, but I gave my belly a gentle poke and that set the little blighter going. He started squirming and then banging his fists against me, as if to say 'get me out of here!'

It was a fantastic experience and I feel much more at ease to find a doc I can relate to.