"Ultrasound"

I have to admit, this morning was pretty cool. I woke up before my alarm went off to get ready to go to the USCIS office in Manchester, NH for fingerprinting. I was naturally the first person there after waiting outside for 30 minutes. I was greeted, if you can call it that, by an almost humorless (although I did get him to crack a couple of smiles), very large, armed USCIS agent.  I was asked to fill in a document, present my passport and appointment invitation.  He went through my purse and then I walked through a metal detector which went off, so I got scanned with the wand. Must have been my abs of steal that set it off.  ;-)   

Once I was admitted to the waiting room, I was called to window where i handed in my paperwork and was asked to sit and wait again. After just a few minutes, my name was called and I was escorted into a back room for digital fingerprinting. First they press your four fingers onto a scanner and then do your thumb, then repeat on the other hand. After that, the take each fingerprint one by one. As they are doing this, your fingerprints slowly appear on screen as they are being scanned.

When I was on finger #3 it occurred to me that I was kind of experiencing my first ultrasound. After all, I was showing up for an appointment and watching parts of my own body appear on screen. It was a totally surreal realization and I actually even told the woman who was fingerprinting me what I was thinking. She giggled and said, "That's the cutest thing I've ever heard in this office." And then it was over and I went on my merry way.

A couple of days ago, I was thinking about the process and when I am likely to travel. At this point, I should be traveling at about this time next year. Given the likely age of my baby when I bring her home, she should be born any day now!  Every morning I wake up wondering if she was born while I was sleeping. It's a wonderful thought and makes me all fuzzy just thinking about it!

Here's to a great weekend!

Thanks for reading,

Andrea