Ch. 9: 21 week Scan

Grow and develop normally; that’s what we want you to do lill Seahorse. And that was the aim when today your parents attended Dr. Christian Jozse’s clinic for your 21 week scan. We wanted to find out how you were travelling on the road to being born, in – o my word! – 19 weeks!!!

This all-important routine 21 week scan is also knows as a morphology scan and the experienced sonographer or obs/gynae looks for that baby’s organs are in their correct position, are the appropriate size and shape; even limb bones are measured – both left and right. With a sleepless night behind me – extreme anxiety that all will bode well with the Seahorse’s health led to tossing and turning; fidgeting and imagining the worst – Erroll and I made our way today to Dr. Christian Jozse’s clinic for the very first time. We were, today, to meet, interview and decide on the doctor who will deliver our firstborn come December.

Seahorse Foot 21 weeks

The Seahorse’s BIG foot at 21 weeks gestation

What was I so worried about, Dr. Jozse cheekily asked me. After all, this baby is on track: four chambers of the heart beating at pace, a robust torso, a lot of movement; in fact, extremely active – arms about, legs kicking and generally jiggling with gusto. Then Dr. Jozse began measuring organs and limbs…and then declared this child is a big size already. “Oh and what long limbs!” then “look at its big feet!” and then after some calculations announced its weight – already 520grams.

To put this into some perspective, the average weight of a 21 week fetus is 360grams. We have a big Dutch baby on the way. Righto – time to put the brakes on my great appetite, it seems…

Seahorse in situ 21 weeks

Seahorse’s mumma at 21 weeks gestation

Dr. Jozse then showed Erroll and I our baby’s head and brain; face including lips and profile; chest including diaphragm; abdomen including kidneys, bladder and stomach; and spine. Assessing all these parts requires a certain level of “cooperation” from the baby. And since Seahorse was facing inwards (kind of hugging me, I’d like to think) the good doctor decided to agitate the child: he rattled his wand over my uterus, caused Seahorse to swim about, move position and resettle so that finally we lay our eyes on the most beautiful vision we had even encountered: our child’s face…

Seahorse Profile 21 weeks

1 Response to Ch. 9: 21 week Scan

Leave a Reply