The World now knows

So Sinead had her first scan last week, on Thursday to be precise. It was amazing to hear the heartbeat and to see the movements especially when the nurse zoomed in. We could see the little arms moving about, and apparently he/she was standing on his/her head.

I sat there not saying much, feeling a bit like a spare tool with nothing to do. I guess the important thing was to be there for Sinead in case she needed me (if anything was wrong). Thank God anyhow that everything seems to be well, and the nurse seemed to be very pleased with the progress. Our next appointment is next week, the day after the Bruce Springsteen concert. We will be staying in my friend Jim's house, in Dublin, on the Sunday night and will probably leave early enough to make our appointment in the afternoon.

As you may have noticed I'm referring to my wife by her full name now - Sinead. After the scan we started telling our friends the news, so I feel more comfortable revealing our identities online now. In a later post I'll write more about the both of us, how we met etc. I was asked recently by one of my work colleagues if I was superstuious (for not telling anyone till after the first 3 months). I guess we kind of are, however it is a very cultural thing here in Ireland (not to say anything during this 3 month period). In addition we also felt that statistically the first 3 months are the most likely for something to go wrong, and we didn't want to be in the uncomfortable position of telling people bad news if something did go wrong. That's not to say everthing is still going to be ok, far from it. I'm still lighting a candle every Sunday after mass, to Mary, that she will look after Sinead and our baby during these coming months.

In case I forget, I promised in my last post for more details on whether we went with Public or Private care. We finally decided to go Private, as we were having some trouble conceiving and just felt more comfortable going this way. It's going to stretch us a little financially, but we did our sums beforehand and are prepared to make a few sacrifices to help us afford it.

I've a few text replies to our news, from friend's that I will share in my next post.