It's a....duck?!

Our first ultrasound was scheduled the day after the positive pregnancy test. The concept of being pregnant was still so enormous to me. While I was very apprehensive, I felt comfort that we would soon have visual evidence. We were led into the imaging room, as we were many times before. Routinely, I get on the table, feet up and that little paper towel on my lap. As if I didn't already feel confused and vulnerable, the nurse goes on a tangent about how amazing it is that I didn't know I was pregnant - Your breasts aren't swollen? You haven't been nauseous? You didn't notice light headiness? You don't taste metal? You're not sensitive to smells?

All these questions seemed to be rhetorical because she didn't wait for me to answer a single one. The only words I could get in was that I was "allegedly" pregnant! All the same, I couldn't help but start to develop a complex about what else I don't know if I didn't even know I was pregnant and what kind of mother would I be if I couldn't feel the presence of my developing fetus. I wanted to take my foot right out of the stirrup and kick her in the face. Luckily, she was saved by the entrance of my doctor. Here it is, the moment of truth.

The first black and white images flashed across the monitor. I didn't know what I was looking at but it certainly didn't resemble a baby. At just 8 weeks old, it was so small - a speck - a mere centimeters. Not quite the visual confirmation I was anticipating. That little speck could have been my stomach contents, a blood clot, a pending bowel movement. How am I supposed to know that speck is alive? The doctor pointed to a rapidly flickering area and told us that was the heartbeat. On the way out, he gave us our first picture. I couldn't find a way to rationalize that little flutter so the possibility of me being pregnant started to absorb as I studied the photo. I had the evidence I needed, a visual, the proof is in the picture. I'm pregnant and I'm having a....duck! Take a look for yourself!