primitive methods

baby scan - 8 aug 07
Originally uploaded by tumbleweeed

The USG machine at Dili national doesn't print, and the one in the UN clinic doesn't have proper paper so in order to capture a shot of my baby, i had to use a digi camera to snap it.

This is actually the best shot so if you're familiar with ultrasounds, you can probably spot the baby's head and body lying on its back, with baby's left profile to us. it's no biggie not to get a sophisticated printout - i'd rather have it this way because back home when a sonographer did my scan, she was really impersonal and professional, delivering a very cookie cutter kind of service. The sonographer probably had a long line of preggy women waiting and was just keen to get the best 'shot'(afterall we paid a lot of $ for the scan!)and move on to the next woman. I, and other women emerged from the room, with a piece of paper in their hands looking excitedly at it, and with a look of puzzlement (what is that blob there?)

Here in Dili, the 2 doctors i've been seeing are the most patient gynaes who take the time to explain everything you see on the screen, and actually delighting in your experience with you. Yesterday, I saw the umbilical cord, and we played with the baby for a while to get baby to move his hands away from his face, and searched for all his fingers and toes, and made sure his kidney and bladder were functioning. The new sonographer from Ethiopia was also so delighted to see the baby, so it was truly a wonderful ultrasound session with 2 genuinely warm-hearted professionals.