Finally the day is here. After what feels like so long to wait between my first appointment and the scan it was finally time to see our baby for the first time. One of my best friends Raewyn was visiting for the weekend so she came with us too.

At Hull hospital you’re only allowed one person in with you at a time so Sam and I went in first. Stupidly, I thought they would be searching around for ages trying to find the teeny baby in my womb but practically two seconds after she put the probe on my tummy up popped a tiny baby on the screen! We were both so taken aback (I don’t know what we expected to see but it certainly wasn’t such a brilliantly clear image) and then, obviously, got a little teary-eyed at the first sight of our baby. It was amazing to finally have proof that there was definitely something in there and know everything was OK so far.

I thought I was 13 weeks +1 but by their measurements I was 13+3 meaning I went forward a week every Tuesday not Thursday…a very important point for my phone calendar where I am tracking my pregnancy’s progress, of course(!).

We saw Sam’s Dad Bill and his wife Marie that night as they were nearby for a wedding so it was nice to give them a scan photo face-to-face and talk lots about babies again over a meal and some (non-alcoholic) drinks. They’re really excited about becoming grandparents again and us finally having children, I think they would have loved us to have started straight after getting married!

Top scan tips:

• Don’t drink too much before going in. I mistakenly thought you had to be super hydrated for the scan to be clear so I had more water than usual during the morning. This resulted in the sonographer exclaiming “Wow, you have a really full bladder” shortly after taking a look at the baby (cue huge embarrassment for me) and saying I might have to go for a wee before she could take clear photos for us. Luckily she managed without that!
• Find out from friends/the hospital beforehand what money you need to pay for extra scan prints if you want more than one copy as, generally, you only get one at your Dating Scan.