Dream Child

Chapter Eight

"How have you been feeling," her doctor asked.

"I feel pretty good so far," Amanda answered.

"Have you been having any pains?"

"I've been having pain in my belly button and a little underneath it," she told her.

The doctor, who was already preparing her stomach for the sonogram to ensure the baby is growing normally and to reveal the sex of the baby, moved down to press gently down on the bottom of her belly button.

"Well there doesn't appear to be any swelling or a bulge here, have you been vomiting more often since noticing the pain?" she asked.

"Nothing that has been usual since knowing I was pregnant."

"That's good, if you do notice any swelling or bulging, make sure you tell your new doctor so that we can make sure there are no serious issues. If you do feel more sick than usual, let your doctor know so that they can check for Umbilical Hernia. This is when there is too much pressure in your abdomen; you want to tell them right away as the hernia can cause reduced blood supply in your abdomen and can cause a serious and life-threatening infection. I suspect that this is the normal pain of pregnancy; your uterus is small and as the baby grows the pressure of the uterus expanding upwards creates pressure on your abdomen and belly button."

"Okay," she nodded.

Grabbing the warmed up gel, she squirted it on her belly, placed the doppler on the gel, and began to press down gently and around on her stomach.

Suddenly the room filled with the sound of a quick and rapid heart beat, and her doctor smiled down at her and told her the heartbeat was perfect.

Studying the screen, the doctor took snapshots of the baby and wrote notes on the screen. She talked to Amanda about what she was looking at, pointed out the baby's arm and leg that was clearly visible.

It was astonishing to Amanda to see the tiny bones, to see the spine and each of the little lines of the vertebrae. Her doctor adjusted the doppler on her stomach, down near her pubic hair, and suddenly the screen was taken up by her baby's head and she could see the brain.

The doctor measured the circumference of the head and told Amanda that the baby's head was growing perfectly and told her that the baby's growth, placenta location and umbilical cord were all great.

Finally, the doctor smiled at her and told her it was time to see if this was a little lady or a little gentleman hiding in her.

She adjusted the doppler again up towards her middle and moved it around a bit.

"Seems like this one doesn't want to show the goodies, perhaps we can jostle this little one around, agitate it a little," she said and began to move the doppler around and around and soon the baby began to shift around.

"Ah, here they go!" she murmured.

She made a circle around the sex and took a picture.

"Here we go mom!"

On the screen she typed in the sex and moved so Amanda could see it.

It was a girl.