Eat at Joes's

On Wednesday morning I went to the new wing of the main hospital in Oxford for a CT scan. It was slightly surreal, wandering up and into this vast, mostly empty edifice to find a room with a giant, grey doughnut. Once found I got to lay on my my back and be moved gently into the doughnut so people behind the safety glass could photograph the inside of my head. I hope I get to see the results. Maybe there's a crayon in there?

Back to work in the afternoon after a quick visit to the Cowley Road for coffee and a catch up with Gary at the excellent Music Box.

And then, back to the hospital again to meet with J and have another scan. This time it was our twenty week check on the baby. What a difference a few weeks make. The 'prawn' of our previous visit has grown into something that looks recognisably human. Most recognisable amid the static and weird grey wash of the sonogram was the baby's lips. Full and ... was it smiling? ... they looked like mine. It seemed to be waving at us too. The scan moved around and reveal legs in motion, the heart pumping, kidneys, bladder... well the full works. At one point, as the sonographer went to take a picture for us to take home he/she moved so it was face on towards the lens. Oh yes, this is my child alright. See camera and pose.

When this experience was over we went for a lightening fast feed at Joe's on the Cowley Road and agreed how well we had been treated by the hospital staff. The last scan had felt something like a production line, this was a very personal and well handled procedure.

I had to rush off to teach again with the evening class and finally got home late into the night with the wind and rain whipping up a storm. I dreamt of looking after a blindfolded mole on a strange bus journey with antagonistic passengers. Maybe too much coffee.

Comments

Don Q. said…
I've been out of the blogging loop, so I missed the announcement about the baby. My congratulations! Parenting has already been one of the great journeys of my life (and my oldest is only 12). Hope all goes well.

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