| Dad's Diary |
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| Week 29 The Health Update/Ultrasound Results Erika had an appointment with the midwives this Tuesday. While there we had our second ultrasound. Erika's mom, Eunice, came along for the viewing. Everything went very well, however, I may have said this after the first ultrasound, but I have to admit I think ultrasounds are a bit overrated. The pictures are fuzzy, and you can't really see much. However, we did see some notable things. First, there are no longer any doubts about our child's gender. Definitely male. No doubt about it. Second, the ultrasound technician said our baby had "great anatomy." I'm not exactly sure what this means, but I think it means everything (like digits, organs, etc.) is in the right place and looks OK. The technician did scare us a little by not being able to see the baby's pulmonary artery, but since we could see the beating heart and blood flowing, I think everything's fine. The medical staff didn't seem worried, so neither am I. Also, the main result of this appointment was some tremendous uncertainty about a due date. The whole reason behind this second ultrasound was to find out if Erika's due date should be moved up because she was measuring a few weeks bigger than we had calculated. After doing the measurements during the ultrasound, the midwife told us that Erika could reasonably deliver anywhere from about April 25 to June 6. Yikes. Apparently, the margin of error on these things is quite high. Still, I don't think I've ever heard of a six-week birth window before. But, the official due date is still listed as May 29. Only time will tell! Miss the Bris? (Parental discretion advised) Since we've gotten confirmation that we're having a boy, we now have some decisions to make. Erika told me that it is entirely up to me if we will have our son circumcised. I hadn't really given this much thought but in the last few weeks, I've been thinking about it more. On the one hand, it seems like a pretty nasty thing to do to a newborn boy. I mean, if you hadn't had it done when you were an infant, would you willingly go through it as an adult? Ouch. That's one of my litmus tests for a lot of things in life. Most of what I read says there isn't any medical reason for it. You just have to, uh, clean a little better. On the other hand, I don't want to ostracize the kid throughout his life. For one thing, I know many people have religious convictions about this, which could cause some embarrassment down the road for him. But, a majority of men in the world did not go through this, although the vast majority in the Western world do. Still, I think I'm leaning against. Any thoughts? The things you have to consider as a parent....Used to be my biggest decision was deciding whether to watch the X-Files or Alias. Next week: Drop and give me 20 |